What is Dry Needling?

 

Dry needling is an invasive procedure in which a thin filament needle (acupuncture needle) is inserted into the skin and muscle directly at a myofascial trigger point. A myofascial trigger point is a focus of small muscle fibre contraction knots, which are related to the production and maintenance of the pain cycle. They often occur as a result of neuromuscular dysfunction and in areas of musculoskeletal stress. When appropriately stimulated, the nervous system's natural response is to begin a chain of reactions to aid healing. Enhancing the nervous system response and focused noxious stimulus is the goal of dry needling technique. Neurochemicals, such as Endorphins and Corticosteroids, are released; the immune system brings white blood cells to the injured area, and red blood cells carrying oxygen and nutrients run to the location. Dry needling relaxes contracted muscles. As the incidence of the needle in a tense muscle may be painful, the nervous system sends the appropriate feedback to the muscle to inhibit its spasm. By achieving an inhibition or stopping the spasm, dry needling can take away the cause of pain and dysfunction as this spasm is often the cause of the pain and dysfunction experienced by the patient.

 

Is dry needling the same as acupuncture?

 

Although there are many similarities between dry needling and acupuncture, they are two very different modalities. Our myotherapists do not practice acupuncture. In contrast to most schools of acupuncture, dry needling is strictly based on Western medicine principles and it is increasingly used in the management of musculoskeletal and sports injuries.

 

How does dry needling work?

 

The primary effect of Dry Needling is that it produces a local twitch response. This results in muscle relaxation due to the release of shortened bands of muscle fibers. Local twitch response with Dry Needling is the first step in breaking the pain cycle. There are currently several hypotheses regarding the exact mechanism of pain relief, which seems to have both mechanical and biochemical effects, in reducing myofascial pain for patients.

 

 

How does dry needling fit into the treatment plan?

 

Stacy applies her dry needling technique in conjunction with using other manual and physical therapy treatments that myotherapists use. These modalities include, trigger point therapy, soft tissue manipulation, mobilistaions, stretching techniques postural training, exercise therapy and patient education.

For us at muscular health, full pain free range of motion is the ultimate goal of myofascial treatments, thus we teach the muscles the right away to work in their newly-gained pain free range to restore their normal function. It is important to us that you are an active participant in your own treatments and rehabilitation. 

There is no specific, predetermined number of treatments for patients with myofascial pain. Chronic conditions will require more treatments than acute conditions. In addition, the amount of treatments will also depend on concurrent other medical conditions, your compliance with the exercises, your age and physical condition, and on the amount of visits suggested by your myotherapist.