What's the Buzz Around Dry Needling?
What Is Dry Needling?
A safe and effective technique that uses the insertion of small filiform needles into injured body tissue to restore homeostasis. The manipulation of the tissue causes remodeling and repair which creates a response locally at the needle site and systemically throughout the body. Essentially, the needle triggers the body to restore normal functioning at the site of injury and reduce pain throughout the body.
How is Dry Needling Different from Acupuncture?
Dry needling is based on a modern medical model that focuses on eliminating musculoskeletal pain and normalizing human movement dysfunction. In contrast, Acupuncture is based on traditional Chinese medicine developed 2,500 years ago that emphasizes meridian theories and Yin-Yang. Overall, the practice of dry needling requires extensive training by a licensed healthcare professional and uses precise clinical judgement, and acupuncture goes by traditional literature and techniques.
What to Expect During and After Dry Needling?
After the patient is examined for trigger points and biomechanical issues, a determination is made on the number and size of the needles used. Upon insertion, each needle is assessed for the response elicited. A normal response is to feel like your muscles are cramping or tightening up. Sometimes a patient feels nothing. During rare occasions If there is sharp pain upon insertion, the needle is removed immediately and reinserted in the same area. The needles are left for an extended period of 1-5 minutes. Depending on the area of dysfunction, the needle can be manipulated in certain directions or e-stim can be added to increase the recruitment of adjacent tissue. After needling, there could be mild soreness similar to how you feel after working out for about 24 hours, but the long-term effects are most always positive.
What Conditions are Treated with Dry Needling?
It is commonly used on soft tissue injuries such as muscle strains, tendonitis, and overuse injuries such as tennis elbow and plantar fasciitis. Dry needling works well on spinal conditions of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine and it can be effective on radiculopathy as well. It is indicated for patients with chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia as it works to desensitize nerves. Dry needling can also be very effective for treating headaches.
Are there any Risks?
As with any invasive procedure, there are risks associated with dry needling. Each patient is given a consent form that thoroughly explains the risks, but they are minimal. A more common one is bruising at the needle site. The biggest risk is a pneumothorax or punctured lung. However, extensive training is done to avoid areas that pose a risk. Sterile techniques are used the patient is constantly assessed during the process.
What are the Benefits?
Dry Needling allows for the PT to get into areas that are normally too deep to manipulate by traditional methods of manual therapy. If found to be appropriate to your case, it is a great adjunct to the plan of care and will really accelerate healing. Like any PT intervention, it will take time fully fix the problem, but there is a good chance you will see results after only a couple of treatments with reduction in pain and improved functioning.
-Craig Dauterive, PT, DPT
Come see us at Catalyst Physical Therapy to inquire more about Dry Needling and how this treatment can help you on your road to recovery.
(504) 301-0061
contact@CatalystPhysicalTherapyLA.com