dry needling

Dry Needling is an orthopedic technique that uses a solid filament needle to treat trigger points. It is best explained as a combination of massage and acupuncture where acupuncture grade sterile needles are inserted directly in to trigger points in the muscle fiber. If you remember, trigger points are localized, palpable, and highly irritable points in a taut band of muscle fibers. These trigger pointers create tightness and dysfunction in the body. The goal of Dry Needling is to help the body heal itself. It does this by alleviating trigger points and creating a healthy inflammatory process that helps the body do what it should do naturally.

Why is Dry Needling a part of my practice? Dry Needling is a great way to get in to deeper tissues, connective tissues, and areas that massage can’t always get into the same way. In order to be certified in Dry Needling, practitioners are required to already be licensed as an Athletic Trainer, Physical Therapist, or Doctor of Chiropractic. This means that we already have a wide base of anatomy and kinesiology knowledge before we learn the Dry Needling Techniques. With this base of knowledge and added technique, we are able to better help your body get back to normal function!

pricing details

dry needling may be added on to any massage appointment: $50

How Dry Needling Works

The needle is instered in to body creating mechanical stimulation of underlying muscular or connective tissue. This helps encourage the body to use its own healing process to restore normal muscle function. In order for this process to occur, the body may respond to the needle with a local twitch response, localized pain, or referral pain. Even though this can be uncomfortable at times, it lets practioners know they are in the correct spot where the dysfunction is located, because normal, healthy muscle tissue does not illicit a response. The needles then remain in the body for an appropriate treatment time then removed before leaving the office.

What to Expect

Because dry needling is working directly into the tissues of the body, the body will respond in a multitude of ways. During treatment, you may experience some local or referred pain or discomfort, some localized redness and heat, and some muscle twitching but all are short lived and will lessen as the treatment continues. After, you may have some muscle soreness and possible bruising over the insertion site, which will subside much like a normal hard workout soreness. Treatment plans vary for each patient, but typically may take a few sessions before a permanent change goes in to effect. Dry needling is a tool to elicit a change for the better in your body, but is not the end all be all to fix every issue. It is utilized along with other bodywork, at home care, exercises, and posture to keep your body functioning at its best!

Conditions Treated

There is a multitude of conditions that can be treated by dry needling, but some common ones are:

• Back Pain

• Neck Pain

• Shoulder pain

• Runners knee, patella-femoral syndrome

• Calf strains

• Hamstring, gluteal and adductor tightness

• Headaches and postural pain

• Tennis and Golfers Elbow

• Carpal tunnel syndrome

• Shin splints