Is Dry Needling Something For Me?

At Excel Physiotherapy we often use Dry Needling as a treatment modality to boost our effectiveness and speed up recovery when treating sore muscles. We get a lot of questions on what Dry Needling is, how it works, and what to expect from a therapy session and these questions will be answered in this blog post.

What is Dry Needling?

Dry needling as a treatment technique that revolves around trigger points, and the presence of these in muscles. Most of you have had muscle pain yourself and can easily identify with these hyperirritable muscle knots and taut bands that causes a lot of grief and hampers your everyday life. A muscle with these trigger points will be painful to move, palpate and stretch, and it will cause shortness of the given muscle and furthermore causing other functional problems.

How does Dry Needling work?

So when treating a muscle with identified trigger points, the goal is obviously to deactivate these. This is where Dry Needling come into play. The technique involves using a very thin needle to penetrate the skin in the area of a trigger point. If successful, a brief acute sensation as the needle hits the trigger point is felt. Before inserting the needle, great care is taken to make sure the procedure is carried out in a safe manner, and this includes taking a detailed history, identifying landmarks in order to needle in safe areas, using appropriate position to allow comfort, relaxation and safety and cleaning the skin where the needle is to be introduced with alcohol. That are some of the reasons why it is important to make sure you are getting your needles done by a certified practitioner as Dry Needling is a relatively safe procedure provided sterilized disposable needles are used by a therapist with good knowledge of anatomy. There are far less harmful effects from the use of dry needling then from many of the drugs being prescribed for the relief of the same pain.

Once the needle has been introduced, it can be manipulated to maximise the effect of the treatment. This could either be done by turning the needle around 180°, or to introduce it to different areas of the treated muscle. What we are looking for is a so called Local Twitch Response. This is caused by local depolarisation of the muscle membrane of the involved fibre, and is thought to elongate the muscle and cause relief. So when these uncomfortable twitches occurs during the session, keep in mind that this is a sign of a successful treatment, and you will feel better in a little while.

What can I expect after the session?

After the needle session it is normal to feel tender for 24 to 48 hours, depending on the muscle or area treated. If therapy is successful, an immediate increase of range is seen in many cases. Application of heat straight after and intermittently for the following few hours can in many cases ease the soreness felt from needling.

It is recommended to carry out treatment sessions every 2-3 days with acute pain, and weekly for chronic pain. It is important the treatment is carried out at every active trigger point in the treated area, otherwise the treatment may fail to provide relief.

 What is treated by Dry Needling

In our practice we find Dry Needling effective as part of the treatment of sore necks (cricks), low back pain of a muscular origin, hamstring struggles, calf and achilles pain and tennis elbow, among other complaints. Dry Needling is often used in combination with other physiotherapy techniques such as massage, manual therapy, kinesio taping and exercises to achieve the best results.

Due to the post-needle soreness, it is not recommended to carry out any sports activities in the first 24 hours after application, so keep this in mind before booking your session. If you are wondering whether your condition could be aided by Dry Needling, give us a shout on 065 686 4000 or contact us here, and we will be happy to discuss it with you.