Physical therapists at SetPT are focused on reducing pain, improving mobility, and maximizing your function using advanced techniques and skills. One of those techniques is trigger point dry needling; advanced interventions that can help reset muscles and improve their function.
You may have some questions about the procedure. We’ve tried to answer as many of your questions as possible in this post, but if you have further questions on whether dry needling may help your injury, ask your physical therapist today!
Isn’t it just like acupuncture?
Dry needling and acupuncture are similar in that practitioners utilize a solid filament needle with both techniques. The use of that solid filament needle by an acupuncturist and physical therapist is very different, as evidenced in the evaluation tools used by each practitioner, the assessment, application, and intended goal. Dry needling is solely based on Western medicine principles and research. During trigger point dry needling, the needle is inserted into a myofascial trigger point, which consists of multiple contraction knots that is painful upon compression and may produce motor dysfunction in the muscle.
Does it hurt?
There is slight discomfort if a local twitch response is produced during needling. This may feel like a deep ache or cramp. Patients often experience some soreness following a twitch response for 24-48 hours. Occasional bruising may occur if a superficial capillary is punctured.
Will it help my injury?
Dry needling can be utilized for a wide variety of musculoskeletal injuries, including headaches, tennis elbow, rotator cuff syndrome, neck pain, back pain, jaw pain, and knee pain. Typically, these conditions are greatly affected by muscle dysfunction, so resetting the muscle with dry needling can be very effective.
How does it work?
There are a number of physiologic effects of dry needling. The most visible effect is increased blood flow, seen as redness in the skin surrounding the area of needling. It is hypothesized that dry needling decreases muscle banding, decreases pain pressure thresholds, and changes the biochemicals in local tissue that contribute to dysfunctional tissue. There is further evidence to suggest inhibition of pain pathways via the central nervous system.
Are there any side effects? What should I do after my session?
The most common side effects are muscle soreness, fatigue, and bruising. Some patients occasionally feel faint or experience short-term worsening of symptoms. These side effects are uncommon, but if they occur, consult with your therapist. After your session, we encourage you to drink fluids and try to move as normal as possible. Too little movement may cause soreness to become worse and too much movement may cause further injury. Ice and heat can be used to alleviate soreness.
Lastly, here’s a video of our own Chris Estafanous, PT, DPT, demonstrating the technique on Fox5 in Washington, DC!
