Dry Needling
Trigger Point Dry Needling, often referred to as "dry needling", is a physical therapy treatment tool that your therapist may suggest. To dry needle an injury, a therapist uses an extremely thin acupuncture needle to induce involuntary contractions in muscle. The needle causes tense muscle fibers to twitch and release triggerpoints, immediately allowing for the relief of pain.
Benefits of Dry Needling
- Dry needling is advantageous because using filament needles allows for the complete and immediate relaxation of a triggerpoint without additional injury.
- Dry needling can be used to treat triggerpoints in any part of the body, including the jaw. The most most common bodily locations for dry needling are the calves, neck and back, hamstrings, quads, arms and feet.
- Dry needling targets sites of physical injuries with maximum precision. This is in contrast to traditional methods of massage that often cause additional bruising and injury without the complete or immediate relaxation of the triggerpoint.
Common questions about dry needling:
- How much does dry needling hurt? Generally the pain is not too bad. The level of pain is different for everyone based on pain tolerance and the location of the triggerpoint. The needles are only a fraction the thickness of the smallest injection needles used to give shots.
- How dry needling is different from acupuncture? While dry needling is an evidenced-based physical therapy technique, acupuncture is a traditional Eastern Medicine in which energy and chi may be channeled by the acupuncurist. In dry needling the filament needle is immediately removed from the triggerpoint in the muscle, whereas in acupuncture needles are inserted and left in place for a predetermined time. In some cases acupuncture may be used to complement triggerpoint dry needling.
Rose therapists have the highest level of dry needling Knowledge
All Rose therapists are certified by Myopain Seminars®, founded by students of the original discoverers of dry needling as a physical medicine treatment. This certification is important because it is extremely rigorous and thorough, ensuring the highest quality of care by Rose physical therapists here in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland.
