Dry Needling

Dry Needling is an effective popular technique used by physiotherapists to treat pain arising from muscles and/or nerves, involving the placement of a needle into a trigger point. A trigger point is a point within the muscle that can be painful to touch and can produce significant pain over a large area. These trigger points may be too deep to be effectively treated by other treatment techniques.

By using Dry Needling, the treatment is far less painful – in fact, most people do not feel pain or discomfort with the insertion of the needle. However, once the needle hits the trigger point, you may experience a “twitch response” which often feels like a quick muscle cramp. Following this technique muscle soreness can be felt up to 24-48 hrs. The application of heat and drinking plenty of fluids usually reduces the soreness

Dry needling can be used for a variety of musculoskeletal problems. Some of the common conditions include:

– sore/stiff neck

– back and shoulder pain

– arm pain (tennis elbow, carpal tunnel)

– headaches

– jaw pain

– leg pain (sciatica, hamstrings strains, calf tightness/spasms)

Dry needling  helps to reduce pain, muscles tension and increase mobility!

Dry needling is different from Traditional Chinese Acupuncture. Both methods do involve inserting a needle into the tissue. However, there are significant differences in the evaluation, application and overall goal of the treatment. Traditional Chinese Acupuncture involves inserting needles along a meridian based on Eastern Medicine principles in order to re-establish chi, or life energy, back in the body. Dry needling involves an examination of the neuromuscular system and insertion of a needle within the muscle in order to decrease pain and restore function.

Dry Needling is not a fix-all solution, it’s usually just one piece of the puzzle. At Physioclinic, our physiotherapists may incorporate this into your Physiotherapy treatment, we do not charge any extra for this treatment and we only use the highest quality, sterile, surgical steel needles.

Our physiotherapists will assess your condition thoroughly before implementing the best course of treatment your for condition.