Dry Needling

Dry needling is a new technique, more common the last 20 years, used to treat muscle tissue. It is becoming a sought after treatment in the United States, Australia, Switzerland, England. Dry needling has been authorized in France since 2017.

The purpose of dry needling is to relieve active and latent “trigger points” in order to decrease pain, improve mobility and function. Common conditions that may benefit from dry needling include muscle pain, muscle tightness, repetitive injuries, back pain, neck pain, hip pain, heel and foot pain, elbow pain, shoulder pain and similar conditions.

There are multiple theories about how dry needling works. One theory postulates the small trauma created by the needle causing a new healing response and increasing blood circulation. Additionally, the needle stimulates a spinal cord reflex, resetting the muscle spindles and relaxing a tense muscle. The spinal cord reflex is also correlated with a muscle “twitch” response. The muscle “twitch” has been associated to a further theory regarding the alternation of chemicals and substances surrounding a trigger point. Research studies showed a change of the chemicals make in a painful trigger point was reduced to a level similar to asymptomatic muscle tissue. after a muscle “twitch” was achieved with dry needling

There has recently been more research performed for the use of dry needling with spasticity showing encouraging results when utilized with therapeutic exercise

Dry needling is different from acupuncture, even if it seems similar at first glance. Acupuncture is based on the energy points of the meridians, while dry needling stimulates the “trigger points” causing pain. The common denominator between these two practices is simply the dry needle.

Dry needling may be intimidating because of the name and tool but due to the small size of the needle it is safe with minimal discomfort.

There are occasional side effects including

• Small bruising or bleeding
• Post-treatment soreness

There is weak to moderate evidence for the long term effects of dry needling, however we have found it to be an extremely valuable tool when used in concert with exercise and other manual therapy techniques particularly for relieving pain in the short term. Exercise and activity modification are necessary for lasting change.