Over the last 10-15 years, there has been a gradual increase in the popularity of a technique called dry needling. It is shared among many different healthcare professions and varies some in technique between providers. The term sounds less than appealing but has been shown very effective for a variety of conditions, and many people often wonder what it is, why it’s used, and if it works.
What is Dry Needling?
The name originates from overseas where occasionally injections are referred to as wet needling, and anytime a monofilament needle is used without medication to affect various tissues it’s referred to as dry needling. Dry Needling differs from traditional Chinese acupuncture due to the underlying theories, diagnosis, and treatments chosen. In traditional Chinese acupuncture, the same needles are used, but the goal is to move and balance energy, or Chi, along with varying meridians in the body. Although in western practice with dry needling we do utilize many of these same points, our goal is to affect the target tissues specifically in a variety of different ways. Target tissues may include muscles, tendons, teno-osseous junctions (where the tendon attaches onto bone), ligaments, perineural tissue (tissue near nerves), fibrotic tissues, bursae (small fluid-filled capsules – think bursitis), and much more.
Dry Needling in physical therapy is a treatment technique often used by physical therapists to relieve pain, decrease muscle tension, and increase mobility. It also assists many other treatment approaches by providing an environment that enhances the body’s ability to heal which also ultimately reduces pain.
How Does Dry Needling Work?
These changes and effects on the tissues can be broken down into mechanical, chemical, and neural changes, both locally where you are having pain or dysfunction, and systemically in the entire body. On a chemical level, dry needling helps release a variety of cells and messengers in the blood that combat the pain response. Many of these are chemically the same as pain medication that you take in the pill form, like endogenous (opioids and serotonin). Other cells are brought into the area to help clean up debris and tissue (macrophages), others to trigger a healthy immune response (T cells), and lastly, other cells assist by helping lay down new tissues appropriately (Fibroblasts).
Research shows dry needling can affects tissues on a mechanical level as well, stimulating production of new capillary formation, which we call neovascularization, and can with enough use create a lasting change in nitric oxide levels which also represents increased blood flow. Possibly the most interesting of changes, though, happens on the neurological level. The areas in the brain associated with judging pain responses appropriately as well as interpreting sensation and feedback for resting muscle tone and activation patterns seems to be stimulated at increased levels with needling of certain local and distal points.
What can be treated by Dry Needling?
Dry Needling can be used for a variety of conditions including, but not limited to: acute or chronic injuries, headaches, neck pain, back pain, tendonitis, muscle spasms, sciatica, hip or knee pain, muscle strains, fibromyalgia, tennis or golfer’s elbow, overuse injuries, and much more.
When combined with traditional physical therapy and the advanced manual therapy techniques, we have had success treating most pain-related problems from head to toe and from acute to chronic conditions.
There is also a large body of research to support using dry needling to assist traditional physical therapy for managing neuropathic diabetic pain, trigeminal neuralgia, Bell’s palsy, and many other neural conditions.
Is Dry Needling Painful?
For most people, there is little to no discomfort with the insertion of the needle, and then a small reproduction of symptoms as it contacts the target tissues. You may also feel a muscle “twitch” at times that feels similar to a muscle cramp or ache. These sensations are all normal and even desirable at times. Following this technique muscle soreness can be felt up to 24-48 hours. The application of heat or ice and drinking plenty of fluids usually reduces the soreness.
Dry Needling is a powerful treatment technique that when used in with conjunction with our other physical therapy treatments, can help you relieve your pain and improve your function quickly. Contact ClearCut ORTHO Physical Therapy Specialists in Fort Worth, TX today to learn more about our dry needling therapy.
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