Dry Needling

What Is Dry Needling?

Dry Needling is a treatment for musculoskeletal pain that involves inserting thin needles into or near trigger points. Trigger points are highly sensitive painful areas in the muscles or fascia. The needles stimulate the muscles and help them relax or twitch. Dry needling is different from other needle treatments because nothing is injected into your body.

When muscles are overused, they go into energy crisis where the muscle fibers aren’t getting an adequate blood supply. When they don’t get the normal blood supply, they don’t get the oxygen and nutrients that allow your muscle to go back to its normal resting state. When this happens, the tissue near your trigger point becomes more acidic. Dry Needling helps release tight muscles, relieve myofascial trigger point pain, increase mobility and restore function.

How Does It Work?

Dry Needling uses thin, sharp, dry needles that are inserted through the skin into the muscle tissues. They are called “dry” as they do not inject anything into the body. The physician will gently tap the needle into the top layer of your skin (epidermis) and discard the guide tube. The physician might move the needle around a little to try to get a local twitch response – a quick spasm of your muscle which is a good sign that your muscle is reacting.

Some people feel improvement in their pain and mobility almost immediately and other it may take more than one session. Depending on the technique, your physician may leave the needle in place for as short as two seconds to as long as 20 minutes.