Injuries to muscles can be a common occurrence, whether it be from a motor vehicle accident, exercising, sports, or something as little as stepping off a curb wrong. Dry Needling is on therapy we use in our office that has helped relieve pain and speed up the healing process in these injuries.

What is Dry Needling

Dry needling is a procedure when an acupuncture needle is inserted into the skin and muscle where trigger points, or knots, are present. Often enough, this can be uncomfortable for a second, but many of our patients describe an easing of the pain within seconds. If left unattended, these trigger points can be painful and even refer pain to other areas.

The trigger points have reduced blood flow and therefore less oxygen. Decreased blood flow prevents metabolites from leaving and can cause cramping, spasming, and pain. Dry needling helps the muscle fibers relax and release the trigger points, increasing flow once again.

Combining Dry Needling with Acupuncture points

Certain acupuncture points have been shown through studies to release pain relieving neurochemicals into the blood stream. One such neurochemical is endorphin. By combining therapies, we can use the body’s natural responses to target the neurochemicals to the trigger points stimulated by the dry needling. This increases pain reduction and relaxation of the muscle spasm.

Other Therapies that can be combined with Dry Needling

Dry needling is one of many procedures that aid in pain reduction of trigger points. Other therapies that are synergistic include: Massage, Cupping, Chiropractic Manipulation, Electrical stimulation (TENs Therapy). We are fans of using multiple types of therapies with our patients to find out what works best for each unique individual.

If you are someone you know have muscle pain that they have not been able to get relief for, give dry needling a try. Relief could be just a phone call away.