Dry Needling

[Photo Source: istock.com/antonio-diaz]

What is dry needling?

Dry needling, or intramuscular manual therapy, is a physical therapy treatment that treats acute and chronic pain. It is a valid manual therapy technique that can speed up the recovery process, improve a patient’s ability to move with decreased pain, and enhance healing after an injury. It is used to increase range of motion that is limited due to muscle tightness. Muscle tightness causes compression and irritation of nerves. When nerves are irritated, they cause a protective spasm of all the muscles to which they are connected causing a person to experience pain both locally (where the nerves are irritated) and remotely (pain extending outside of the irritated muscle). Dry needling is often done as part of a comprehensive physical therapy treatment plan that can include manual soft tissue mobilization, therapeutic exercise, neuromuscular re-education, and functional retraining.

How does dry needling work?

Dry needling involves the physical therapist, wearing medical gloves and appropriate personal protective equipment, pushing thin filiform sterile needles through the skin of the patient into trigger points to stimulate the tissue. Trigger points are hyper-irritable points in a taut band of skeletal muscles located within a larger muscle group that create pain and can be tender to the touch. They are often referred to as “knots” in the muscle. Once the needle is inserted into the muscles at the trigger point, the muscles contract, eliciting a local twitch response, which is an involuntary reflex in which the muscle fibers in the taut band of muscles contract. The muscles will then release, which improves the flexibility of the muscle and decreases symptoms.

Dry needling mechanically disrupts the sensory or motor components of nerve endings that contribute to the abnormal muscle contractions that result in the patient’s pain. Overstimulation of the sensory nerves is responsible for the reflected pain and local sensitivity of the trigger point. Dry needling reduces this overstimulation of the sensory nerves. It can reduce the number of trigger points and the sensitivity of trigger points that are related to pain.

When the trigger point is deactivated, the fine needle is removed and disposed of safely. The needles can be placed deeply or superficially for shorter and longer periods of time. A short duration means the needle is inserted into the muscle for seconds, whereas a long duration would be ten to fifteen minutes. Deep dry needling inactivates the trigger points and reduces local and referred pain, improves range of motion, and decreases trigger point irritability locally and remotely. Superficial dry needling also improves range of motion and reduces local and referred pain.

What conditions can dry needling treat?

Dry needling can treat the following conditions:

• joint and disk problems

• jaw and mouth problems

• tendinitis/tennis elbow

• whiplash

• repetitive motion disorders

• migraine and tension-type headaches

• spinal problems

• back pain

• neck pain

• pelvic pain

One study on dry needling as a treatment for back pain showed that those patients that received dry needling experienced a reduced pain level, reduced quality of pain, reduced number of trigger points and trigger point sensitivity, and reduced pain-related fear of movement.

Reasons to Try Dry Needling:

1. Decreased Pain: Dry needling prompts a healing response in the body. It promotes improved blood flow and increased consumption of oxygen by the affected muscle, which aids in muscle recovery.

2. Improved Movement: After dry needling, a patient experiences less pain and is able to move more freely and without restrictions. A patient also has improved muscle response time.

3. Minimal Side Effects: Side effects of dry needling are minimal and short-term. A patient may experience general aches or fatigue for less than 24 hours in the affected area.

4. Reduced Reliance on Pain Medications: Dry needling is a natural solution to pain and can reduce an individual’s reliance on pain medications to manage their pain.

5. Cost-Effective: Dry needling is a physical therapy treatment that some insurances cover. It will save a patient money on medical costs associated with injections, medications, or surgery.

Dry needling is an inexpensive, low-risk, and minimally-invasive treatment method to reduce pain. A physical therapist must complete post-graduate training to become certified in dry needling. At Mangiarelli Rehabilitation, three therapists are certified in dry needling: Jen, Bobby, and Paula.

Call our clinic today to learn more about dry needling and whether it could be an

effective treatment for you!