If you struggle with muscular pain in your neck, back, arms, or legs, you can likely benefit from dry needling. This minimally invasive soft tissue technique is a fast and effective therapy for pain relief, making it especially popular among those who don’t want to take pain relievers or other medications.
Learn more about what dry needling is and how it works.
What Is Dry Needling?
Dry needling is a soft tissue technique that physical therapists and other healthcare providers use to treat movement issues and musculoskeletal pain related to myofascial trigger points. The treatment gets its name from its use of “dry” needles, which are needles that don’t have any liquid in them.
During dry needling, the healthcare provider inserts thin needles into trigger points. Dry needling can relieve tension, correct sources of radiating and nerve-related pain, and accelerate recovery from injuries.
How Does Dry Needling Work?
Before a physical therapist begins a dry needling treatment, they’ll go over the patient’s symptoms and perform an evaluation. Next, they’ll assess the patient’s muscle function and mobility to see if a trigger point is a possible cause of the patient’s symptoms.
Once the physical therapist believes dry needling may work for a patient, they’ll begin the dry needling treatment by inserting one or more thin monofilament needles into or around the patient’s trigger points. These trigger points may be located on the patient’s arms, neck, back, or legs.
Usually, the provider will only leave the needle in the trigger point for a few seconds. However, they may leave the dry needle in a trigger point for 10 to 15 minutes if the patient’s symptoms are more severe. Additionally, the provider may move the needle following insertion to stimulate a muscle twitch response.
By inserting the needle into a trigger point, the physical therapists can increase blood flow, reduce pain, and decrease muscle tightness. After treatment, many patients immediately feel these benefits.
Why Does Dry Needling Target Trigger Points?
A trigger point is a band of uncomfortable, tight muscle tissue usually caused by repetitive motions, sustained poor postures, or injuries. If left untreated, trigger points can develop into knots that can be quite painful.
Trigger points can also be the source of referred pain, meaning a trigger point in one location of your body is causing pain in another (e.g., you might be experiencing pain in your shoulder from a trigger point in your neck). Besides being painful, trigger points can restrict your range of motion and lead to stiff or weak muscles.
Why Does Sticking a Needle Into a Trigger Point Help?
While an exact reason for why dry needling relieves pain from trigger points is yet to be determined, healthcare providers tend to think it comes down to the stimulation of local twitch response or muscle regeneration. The local twitch response theory holds that a pain-relieving chemical response occurs when a dry needle causes an involuntary reflex contraction of muscle fibers in the trigger point.
Another possible explanation is the muscle regeneration theory, with some believing that dry needling stimulates tissue repair and regeneration by causing small lesions.
Though the exact mechanism of how dry needling relieves pain from trigger points is yet to be determined, a growing body of research indicates that dry needling is effective. For example, a systematic review of 15 studies suggests that dry needling is effective for improving quality of life, increasing range of motion, and reducing pain in the short term.
What Is Dry Needling Used For?
Dry needling is primarily used to improve a patient’s range of motion and/or relieve pain. Common conditions dry needling may be used to help treat include:
- Lower back pain
- Rotator cuff pain
- Shoulder pain
- Hip pain
- Neck pain
- Temporomandibular (TMJ) pain
- Headaches
- Achilles tendonitis
- Bicep tendonitis
- Tennis elbow
- Iliotibial band syndrome
- Muscle strains
What Does Dry Needling Feel Like During an Appointment? Does Dry Needling Hurt?
Patients may feel some pain during a dry needling appointment. The actual insertion of the needle isn’t usually painful, as the needles are very thin and only feel like a prick to most patients.
However, patients often feel some pain when the needle causes a twitch response while inserted in a trigger point. This twitch response can be uncomfortable, but it can cause a tight muscle to relax as the trigger point releases.
What Is Dry Needling Supposed to Feel Like After an Appointment?
Patients typically feel a bit sore after a dry needling appointment. This muscle soreness is perfectly normal and typically resolves between 24 and 36 hours after the dry needling appointment.
Some patients may also experience bruising near where the needles were inserted, with this bruising usually going away after a week.
Is Acupuncture the Same as Dry Needling?
No. Dry needling is not the same as acupuncture, as dry needling aims to treat musculoskeletal and neuromuscular pain, while acupuncture aims to balance a person’s energy flow. While both treatments involve the insertion of needles, an acupuncturist will insert their needles along “acupoints.” In contrast, a physical therapist will insert their needles into trigger points.
Chain Effect: Dry Needling in Raleigh, NC
If you’re interested in receiving dry needling treatments in Raleigh, North Carolina, turn to Chain Effect. Our team of physical therapists is properly trained to perform dry needling treatments and will be happy to answer any questions you might have about it. After your first appointment, our physical therapist may also recommend strengthening exercises or stretches to help reduce your pain and increase your range of motion.
Learn more about our dry needling services today. If you’re interested in working with one of our physical therapists, please make an appointment.
