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Functional Dry Needling

 

What is Dry Needling?

Dry needling is a therapeutic intervention used by Physical Therapists to relieve pain. It involves using a thin filament needle and inserting it into a trigger point. A trigger point is a taut band in a muscle that can refer pain to another area in your body. Releasing these trigger points improves blood flow and oxygen. This can lead to a decrease in pain and improvement in mobility, ultimately helping you return to full function!

How quickly can you see results?

Results from Dry Needling can be instantaneous. Patients can immediately feel an improvement in their symptoms in the same session. The number of visits depends on the diagnosis and the length of time that pain has been present. For more chronic pain, additional visits will most likely be needed to fully eliminate all of the trigger points and painful areas.

A person in blue gloves is holding a needle

Does dry needling hurt?

The pain felt from Dry Needling is typically described as the “feel good pain”, the same type of pain reproduced during a deep tissue massage or foam rolling. It can also be uncomfortable as your muscles can involuntarily twitch, but this means that the trigger point is releasing lactic acid and other toxins.

The pain caused from Dry Needling is a deep aching pain, and it might cause some muscle soreness later on. Our patients typically report that the pain from Dry Needling is far less than the pain they have been experiencing, and they feel a relief from their pain afterwards.

Who benefits from dry needling?

Dry Needling can help patients who have a new injury or recent onset of pain (acute pain) or chronic pain. Specifically, it can help with patients who suffer from muscle cramping or strains, athletic injuries, overuse injuries, neck or low back pain (especially after a car accident), and fibromyalgia. We also can perform Dry Needling for rotator cuff syndrome, hip or shoulder bursitis, knee pain, tennis/golfer’s elbow, or plantar fasciitis. Our Physical Therapists will perform their evaluation and ask screening questions to determine if Dry Needling would be a good option to include in your plan of care!

Results from Dry Needling can be instantaneous. Patients can immediately feel an improvement in their symptoms in the same session. The number of visits depends on the diagnosis and the length of time that pain has been present. For more chronic pain, additional visits will most likely be needed to fully eliminate all of the trigger points and painful areas.

Two people giving each other a high five while holding tennis rackets.
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