Dr. Reece Hayden of Synergy Chiropractic of Houston created a quick video that discusses how dry needling works with trigger point issues. Dry needling and acupuncture can have similar applications for trigger points. As a board certified chiropractor and acupuncturist, Dr. Hayden utilizes both dry needling and acupuncture with his patients in addition to chiropractic and other manual therapy services.

Howdy everybody,

Today we are going to be talking about how dry needling and acupuncture can help with muscle pain.

As you may remember, my name is Dr. Reece Hayden.  I work with Synergy Chiropractic of Houston.

Muscle pain can never be fun and be very annoying.  Often time, when we have muscle pain, we can develop knots in the muscle fibers.  If this were to represent some muscle and its fibers, a knot would be where these fibers bundle together creating tenderness.  The muscle won’t want to function properly.

Using acupuncture and dry needling, we can help reduce the knots’ size and tenderness and work towards decreasing pain in the body and muscles.  In dry needling, the person certified will take a needle (called a filiform needle in dry needling, and acupuncture needle by acupuncturists) and insert it directly into the knot.  The time in which the needle is left inside the knot can vary depending on the person performing the technique.  Some leave it in for a couple of seconds, some for a couple of minutes.  I prefer to leave it in for about 15 minutes because I like to do additional therapies as well. 

The knot will start to release the fibers, relaxing the muscle.  I like to combine this with acupuncture points, since I am also certified in acupuncture.  The points I like to stimulate are in the hand, in the elbow, and down close to the ankle.  There is another point really close to the knee, but it is not as easy to stimulate all four of the points at the same time.  So I use the three that are most easily accessible for me.  By stimulating these points, I can release endorphins into the blood stream.  Endorphins decrease pain and help muscle relaxation.

When all the needles are taken out, anywhere between immediately to 3 hours, many of my patients have described a decrease in pain and an increase in muscle relaxation.

This is one of the explanations for how dry needling and acupuncture can be used beneficially together.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.  Thank you and have a nice day.