Dry Needling

Dry Needling

Dry needling is a popular treatment used by practitioners to treat a variety of conditions. Most people have heard of dry needling but tend to know very little about it. Having recently completed an introductory and advanced dry needling course, I thought it appropriate to provide some general information on what dry needling is, what is can be used to treat and what the benefits are.

So let’s start from the beginning.

Dry needling involves placing needles into trigger points. Nothing is injected into the muscle. Dry needling is commonly confused with acupuncture. Although similar, dry needling is based on Western principles of anatomy and physiology, whereas acupuncture derives from an Eastern, traditional Chinese medicine background (Miller, 2015).

Dry needling aims to release the tight bands of muscle that make up trigger points, leading to a decrease in pain and improvement of function. It is safe. Patients may be feel a deep ache within the muscle when needles are inserted. Occasionally, a twitch response is elicited when the needles a inserted; a feeling not dissimilar to a cramp. Dry needling can be used to treat a variety of conditions, both acute and chronic. Examples include neck pain, low back pain, muscle strains and tendinopathy. (Laris, 2016).

Patients widely report benefits from dry needling, and research supports its effectiveness when used in conjunction with other physiotherapy interventions such as soft tissue massage and exercise and stretching (Furlan et al, 2005), (Edwards & Knowles, 2003).

So why not give it a go; come into Next-Gen and try it for yourself. All our physios are qualified dry needling practitioners.