Dry Needling? I do.

Needling sounds scary to some individuals. You may ask yourself “I don’t want to be jabbed or stabbed?”, “I am afraid of needles”.

Let me put into perspective the size of the needles I use for this effective treatment option. A medical syringe is about 28.5mm in thickness, a sewing needle is about 1.02mm thick, the needle used in dry needling is 0.25mm to 0.30mm, that is a small filament needle, these are similar to the needles used in Acupuncture. Now that we have put your mind at ease with the needle size, let me explain the treatment.

Dry needling is an effective treatment for musculoskeletal dysfunctions. Muscles get tight through injury, use through activity in sports or exercise, poor posture, post surgically, and stress related. The best example is when you have had tight upper trapezius muscles, the muscles that many of us hold tension in and want someone to massage or pinch. The muscle develops a “trigger point”. When the active trigger point is palpated and found, a clinical decision will be made as to what size needle to use and what the course of treatment will be. This usually includes multiple sites/muscles needled. The process entails the needle being inserted to the muscle generally for a matter of seconds and removed. You may feel the initial “stick”, you may also feel a local muscle twitch. There may be an ache around the area and radiation of symptoms around the area as well. These responses are normal. If a patient is highly uncomfortable I generally will attempt a smaller gage needle which is more tolerable.

Dry needling treatments elicit (1) Local effects like reduced tissue tension, normalizing local inflammation, and biomechanical stimuli, (2) Systemic effects in the restoration of local and systemic homeostasis. After needling I see pain decrease, joint biomechanics restored and the ability to go to the next phase of the rehabilitation process.

How many treatments are needed? Acute conditions can be 1-4 needling treatments, chronic conditions can take up to 6-8 treatments. Keep in mind that the dry needling is only a part of the process. The patient specific plan of care will consist of manual therapy, exercise, functional retraining and progression back to full activity.

Dry needling must be performed by a certified professional and laws can vary from state to state. I find Dry Needling is a useful treatment in my quest to heal the community. I have multiple skills that can be used if a person does not want to be needled.

if you would like more information please call or email me. Contacts are on this website.