Dry Needling - What it is and Why do it?

If you have experienced sore muscles, tendons and joints, you know that the pain can be debilitating. One of the techniques that we recommend for pain is dry needling, which is also known as trigger point dry needling. This treatment helps to alleviate pain or knots in your muscles. Any time the word “needle” is used, people tense up, but dry needling can be an incredibly effective pain reliever. We wanted to take some time in this blog to explain the technique of dry needling and the benefits that we believe our patients will experience. 

Dry needling can sometimes be confused with acupuncture because both techniques use extremely thin, hollow needles. However, that’s really the only similarity between the two treatments. Acupuncture is to restore the normal flow of chi (life force) in the body based on traditional Chinese medicine. On the other hand, dry needling is a Western medicine practice that is based on anatomy. In dry needling, the thin filiform needles are used by a physical therapist to target tissues that are not manually palpable and stimulate the underlying myofascial trigger points, as well in the stimulation of neural, muscular, and connective tissues. 

Dry needling starts with an orthopedic evaluation done by a PT. Once you are assessed by a physical therapist at Back in the Game PT, they are able to understand your musculature and will then insert the needles into the trigger points of the muscles you and your PT have made a plan to target. Dry needling is part of your overall physical therapy treatment plan. A physician’s PT order is required in the state of Georgia to perform dry needling. 

At Back in the Game PT, we use dry needling to help our patients’ muscles release and to inactivate trigger points in your body, as well as the stimulation of neural, muscular, and connective tissues. Dry needling can be used to alleviate pain, improve your range of motion, and reduce the tension in your muscles. Essentially, these needles create “micro-lesions” in your muscles that break up the knotted tissue and normalizing the inflammatory response in the muscle. This means that your body is able to heal faster, which speeds up your overall recovery by reducing your pain. 

If you think your aches and pains could be relieved by dry needling or are interested in how dry needling could fit in your current Back in the Game physical therapy plan, give us a call at 770-967-4377 (Flowery Branch location) or 470-294-0052 (Dacula location).