The Effect of Adding Ultrasound-guided Tendon Dry Needling to a Program of Heavy, Slow Loading Exercise for Individuals with Non-insertional Achilles Tendinopathy: A Single-blind RCT

MIRROR will provide onsite research staff to support both ongoing and future research conducted by physical therapists enrolled in the Army-Baylor University Doctoral Fellowship in Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy, as well as research led by Fellowship faculty and staff. These personnel will assist the Principal Investigator and study team with coordinating research activities, which may include clinical outcomes collection, participant recruitment, data collection and management, regulatory support, and other assigned tasks. Additionally, they will support report generation and project close-out activities.

The primary aim of this study is to determine whether there are differences in Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment–Achilles (VISA-A) scores at 12 weeks between individuals managed with 12 weeks of standard physical therapy and dry needling versus those managed with standard physical therapy and sham tendon dry needling. Secondary aims include exploring structural changes in tendons from baseline to 12 weeks between the two groups, as well as examining differences in secondary outcomes at 6, 12, and 26 weeks, including Patient Acceptable Symptomatic State (PASS), PROMIS measures, and heel-rise testing. Additionally, the study will assess between-group differences in VISA-A scores at 26 weeks.