How Dry Needling Can Help You Find Relief From Chronic Pain
Physical therapists have many methods to help alleviate pain & promote healing. Dry needling is one prevalent method and is the process of using a small, solid filament needle to target areas of muscle or other connective tissue.
Should I consider dry needling?
Dry needling involves using solid filament needles to puncture the skin in specific areas, often to target knots of contracted muscle or to restart the healing process in an area that may have not healed correctly and is chronically painful.
If your physical therapist decides to offer this treatment to you, it may be because they feel a more targeted approach is needed for your particular issue.
Trigger points and dry needling
One of the most common reasons to use dry needling is for trigger points. A trigger point is a painful spot in the muscle. The pain can stay more localized to the spot or refer pain out further. If you have ever used your finger to press on a tight muscle to get relief, then you have experienced a trigger point.
In a trigger point, the muscle fibers are stuck in a contraction knot. The pain is believed to be caused by a decrease in blood flow, which reduces oxygen to the tissue. Dry needling a bundle of muscle fibers that are in constant contraction stretches the tissue and disrupts the knot, causing the muscle fibers to release. This can cause great relief to someone if the source of their pain is from the trigger point.
A trained physical therapist can target these areas safely with minimal issues. Some of the most common areas for treatment are along the upper trapezius muscles, neck, lower back, glutes and calves.
Tendons and ligaments can also be areas that can be dry needled. These areas of thick bands of tissue, which are mainly comprised of collagen fibers, are designed to deal with tremendous loads along the joints and are also responsible for improving the stability around joints.
Due to their crucial role, they are susceptible to injury or overuse. Inflammation and pain are typically the result, which can begin to contribute to poor joint mechanics, stiffness and further strain on the joint. If the area doesn’t heal properly, it can become a chronic problem that can decrease one’s quality of life by making daily tasks and hobbies difficult.
Physical therapy can often help kick-start the healing process through various methods, including exercise. If the area continues to be problematic or painful, then dry needling may help fuel more healing.
The idea is that it helps improve blood flow and signals the body to resume the healing process. Adding this treatment to a physical therapy program can potentially speed up recovery.
Some ailments treated using dry needling are tennis elbow, bicep tendinosis, Achilles tendinosis and chronic ankle sprains.
How painful is dry needling?
Pain can be experienced during dry needling, but it is often mild and is well-tolerated. If it becomes too painful, patients are encouraged to communicate the severity of the pain to their physical therapist, who will try to adjust to make it more comfortable.
The risks associated with dry needling are very low. The most common complications are pain, redness and occasionally bleeding.
Ask your physical therapist if you feel you could benefit from this service or have questions. Most of our outpatient rehabilitation locations have therapists that use the dry needling method.
Call 904.427.8900 for more information or to schedule an appointment.
About the author
Edwin Rivera received his doctor of physical therapy degree (DPT) from the University of North Florida in 2012. He is a board-certified clinical specialist in orthopaedic physical therapy (OCS). He works at UF Health Rehabilitation – Emerson, where he sees patients with a variety of orthopaedic-related issues, from tendonitis and chronic pain to postsurgical treatment after traumatic accidents or sports-related injuries.