About Dry Needling
What is Dry Needling?
• Dry Needling (TP) is the use of solid needles, usually acupuncture needles, to pierce the skin and penetrate trigger points in muscles.
• The purpose is to eliminate painful trigger points in muscles.
– Trigger points make up 30%-85% of pathology seen by doctors (neurologists, dentists, MDs)
What are trigger points?
• Two kinds: active and latent
– Active trigger points are hypersensitive taut bands of muscle and can cause:
• Localized and referred pain
• Muscle weakness
• Reduced range of motion in joints
– Latent trigger points are painful on palpation and can cause:
• Dysfunctional muscle activation patterns
• Reduced range of motion
• Can become active trigger points
• Caused by overuse and direct trauma to muscles
– Overuse does not need to be strenuous; it can be as simple as keeping a sustained posture
How does dry needling work?
• Direct needling inactivates the trigger point which leads to muscle relaxation and increased blood flow; normalization of chemical soup in/around muscle
– A local twitch response or a global response is elicited
• Pain reduction by blocking of pain signals to brain and the release of opioid-like peptides to also block the pain signals
Is it safe?
• YES!
– In a 2020 study, only 20 major adverse events were reported out of 20,494 sessions for a rate of <0.1% (1 per 1, 024 therapeutic dry needing treatments) - Boyce D, Wempe H, Campbell C, et al. Adverse Events Associated with Therapeutic Dry Needling. Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2020; 15(1):103-113
What issues can dry needling help?
• Has been shown to be effective at treating
– carpal tunnel
– migraines
– chronic low back pain
– TMJ
– Shoulder pain
– Tennis/golfers elbow
– plantar fasciitis
– calf pain
– muscle strains
– Post operations involving knee, shoulder, ankle, hip
– IT band pain
If you have any other questions about dry needling please feel free to call, text (937-234-7972), email (aaron@newdayphysicaltherapy.com) or message (bottom right of the screen) me.
Thank you for reading!