DRY NEEDLING

Dry Needling is a broad term using to describe a treatment approach involving inserting a solid filament needle directly into a muscle. It utilises the same tool as acupuncture but the theories and application differ from traditional acupuncture. The aim of dry needling is to find active trigger points in a muscle (Those painful knotty bits in the muscle) and insert the needle into the soft tissue with the aim of decreasing muscular tension, create length in a muscle which can provide pain relief. Essentially muscle with normal tension should not hurt when you poke it, hence dry needling has become a popular tool to restore normal tissue homeostasis.

 

What causes trigger points aka knotty muscles that hurt when you poke them?

  • STRESS – Increase muscular tension.
  • MUSCLE GUARDING – Muscle spasm due to pain, guarding, beliefs or injury.
  • ACTIVITY LOAD- Adding to much training load too quickly and the muscular system not keeping up.
  • SUSTAINED POSTURES – Asking muscles to do the wrong job, in the wrong position for sustained periods of time.
  • INJURY – Muscle guarding will occur after an injury or pain.

Why use it?

Our Physio’s use dry needling as part of a comprehensive treatment plan involving movement, exercise, muscle re-training and soft tissue techniques. It resets the muscle at a neural level allowing for quick pain relief, improvements in muscle range of motion and reduced muscle tension.

It provides a quick stepping stone to get people moving again as quickly as possible and this where the magic happens.

 

Does it hurt?

There are two types of dry needling:
Superficial: This involves the insertion of the needle into soft tissue and is a relatively painless approach which induces muscular relaxation.

Deep Tissue Trigger Point:  This involves the stimulation of trigger points and is slightly less comfortable. The goal with this type of dry needling is to create a muscle twitch response in the muscle that can create a dull ache/cramping sensation within the muscle.

What conditions can it help with?

  • Neck/Back Pain
  • Shoulder Pain
  • Tennis/Golfers Elbow
  • Headaches
  • Hip and Gluteal Pain
  • Knee Pain
  • Plantar Fasciitis
  • Athletic Performance

If you think Dry Needling could help your recovery give us a call today on (02) 4751 9127 🙂

 

 

Written by Pat Lincoln
(Director and Physiotherapist at The Physio Depot)

 

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