What is Dry Needling? How can it help you?
What is dry needling?
Dry needling is an intervention where a thin, flexible needle is inserted into a myofascial trigger point, or “muscle knot,” to elicit a twitch response, release muscular tension, and reduce pain.
What are trigger points?
Trigger points are hyper-irritable areas of muscle that are often painful and tender to touch. They can be localized to the area or send pain to other areas, called referred pain. Trigger points are sustained contractions of a small section of muscle fibers due to overactivity and overstimulation which leads to local inflammation, decreased blood supply, lack of oxygen and nutrients to the tissue, involuntary shortening/guarding of the muscle, and limited ability to clear inflammatory chemicals from the area. This can cause pain, tightness, spasms, and tenderness in the muscle.
How does dry needling work?
Dry needling elicits chemical changes within the trigger point. It helps to improve blood flow which helps clear local inflammatory chemicals from the area and bring in oxygen and nutrients to the muscle. This ideally results in a twitch and relaxation response, facilitating a return of normal chemical balance and function of the muscle and a subsequent reduction in pain and tightness. Dry needling essentially “resets” the muscle so it can function properly.
How can dry needling help me?
Dry needling has the potential to facilitate a quick reduction in pain, tenderness, and improvement in mobility and function. Dry needling may be appropriate to incorporate into treatment for many conditions such as sciatica, tennis elbow, low back pain/tightness, knee pain, hip pain, calf pain/tightness, and more. Dry needling is a useful intervention to incorporate along with other areas of treatment such a myofascial release, cupping therapy, stretching, or targeted exercise to promote a long-lasting improvement.
How is dry needling different from acupuncture?
Acupuncture is based on placing needles along meridians of the body to align energy in the body, and does not focus on specific areas of pain. Dry needling directly targets areas of the muscle that cause pain and dysfunction.
What are the side effects?
Dry needling does come with risks. Common side effects of dry needling include bleeding, bruising, and post-treatment soreness. Other more uncommon side effects are infection, lung puncture, or nerve irritation. You should talk with your physical therapist about any concerns you have regarding the risks of dry needling.
Call us today to see if dry needling is right for you!