What is Dry Needling?
Dry needling is an effective treatment for reducing musculoskeletal pain and discomfort through the use of acupuncture needles to release myofascial trigger points that may develop after overuse or injury of a muscle.
How does Dry Needling work to reduce pain?
Muscles sometimes develop knotted areas called trigger points. Highly sensitive, these trigger points can be painful when touched. They are also often the cause of referred pain (or pain that affects another part of the body).
Physiotherapists that are certified in dry-needling are trained to identify potential trigger-points through palpation and apply a sterile acupuncture needle to achieve a muscle twitch response that can reduce pain and increase blood flow. Thin solid needles are pushed through the skin into trigger points. The needles are used to stimulate the tissue and not to inject any medication. That’s why the term “dry” is used.
Dry-needling may be effective after a single session or require multiple sessions in order to achieve desired results. You may also find that following recent dry-needling, you experience some temporary soreness over the following day. However, recent evidence, (a 2017 systematic review and meta-analysis) suggests that dry-needling is effective at reducing pain for up to 12 weeks following treatment.
My Rehab Team has dry-needling certified physiotherapists available to provide this treatment. If you would like to consider this as a treatment option, contact us for more information.
Reference:
Gattie, E., Cleland, J., & Snodgrass, S. (2017). The Effectiveness of Trigger Point Dry Needling for Musculoskeletal Conditions by Physical Therapists: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Journal Of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 47(3), 133-149. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2017.7096
