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Dry Needling
What is it?
Placing fine, high quality needles into different points in the body to manage pain has been practised in Eastern countries as early as 700BC. Using needles to treat various muscle disorders has been recorded in Western medicine since the 1700s. Over the past four centuries doctors have tried injecting different things into painful muscles, from anaesthetic, to anti-inflammatories, even just water, with mostly positive results. One thing has been shown for sure over all these years: Needling a painful muscle safely addresses the pain, even without injecting anything via the needle.
Is Dry Needling Different to Acupuncture?
Acupuncture, as most people know it, is different from dry needling. Acupuncture is based on Eastern treatment philosophies such as Traditional Chinese Medicine. Dry needling is based on Western medical philosophies and has different targets for treatment, tests and measurements. Both forms have a place in modern care. Now what are the targets for treatment of modern Dry Needling?
How Dry Needling Works:
If you grab the top of your shoulder, you probably can feel a “knot” in the muscle. Myofascial trigger points are the knots you feel in tight muscles, and they are what dry needling targets. These trigger points are terrified of needles, for good reason. Needles are a powerful tool for reducing the effect of trigger points. Trigger points can cause painful movement and referred pain, as well as become long-term problems. Here are ways dry-needling attacks trigger points:
1. Needles placed and left in knots stimulate the nerves to allow muscle fibre components to relax. Even if a needle hits a nerve, there is almost no risk of damage, only irritation.
2. They also stimulate the nerve receptors to transmit less pain from the knots, along a few possible pathways. This reduces that background ache in those knotted muscles and allows for pain free movement.
3. Removing the pain from the knots, and eventually the knots themselves, lets you get back to working on the underlying postural or movement problems that caused the knots to form in the first place.