Offered at Littleton Location

Trigger Point Dry Needling

What is Dry Needling?

Dry Needling involves multiple advances of a filament needle into the muscle in the region of a "Trigger Point'. The aim of Dry Needling is to achieve a local twitch response to release muscle tension and pain. Dry needling is an effective treatment for chronic pain of neuropathic origin with very few side effects. This technique is unequalled in finding and eliminating neuromuscular dysfunction that leads to pain and functional deficits. The needle used is very thin and most subjects do not even feel it penetrate the skin. A healthy muscle feels very little discomfort with insertion of this needle. However if the muscle is sensitive and shortened or has active trigger points within it, the subject will feel a sensation like a muscle cramp -'the twitch response'. The patient also may feel a reproduction of "their" pain which is a helpful diagnostic indicator for the practitioner attempting to diagnose the cause of the patients symptoms. Patients soon learn to recognize and even welcome this sensation as it results in deactivating the trigger point, reducing pain and restoring normal length function to the involved muscle.

Dry Needling may also be used for acute and chronic sporting injuries such as:

 

• Muscular haematomas
• Muscle tears
• Compartment syndrome
• Medial tibial stress syndrome (shin splints)
• Rotator cuff injuries
• Tennis/golfers elbow

 

Dry Needling can also be used for spinal conditions where the underlying pathology may have triggered a movement disorder. This can result in the presence of reduced ROM or pain due to abnormal muscle tone or spasms. Such conditions may include:

 

• Piriformis syndrome
• Cervico-genic headaches
• Sciatica
• Hamstring issues

Common lower extremity conditions treated with Dry Needling include:

 

• Patellar Femoral Syndrome
• Patellar tendonitis
• Hamstring Strain
• Groin Strain
• Shin-splints; Compartment Syndrome
• Achilles tendonopathies

Common upper extremity conditions treated with Dry Needling include:

 

• Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Lateral Epicondylitis (tennis elbow)
• Medial Epicondylitis (golfers elbow) 
• Impingement syndromes

Is it the same as Acupuncture?

Dry Needling is performed by Western Medical Practitioners using Acupuncture-type needles to treat the musculoskeletal and nervous systems based on modern neuroanatomy science. Acupuncture falls within the scope of traditional Chinese medicine. It would be incorrect to refer to a practitioner of Dry Needling as an "Acupuncturist" since Dry Needling practitioners do not use traditional meridians (meridians are based on a 2000 year old dogma).