What is Dry Needling?
Today’s we’ll focus on dry needling; what it is, and what it can do for you. I am Dr. Eric Alexander, DPT, OCS, Cert. MDT, Cert. DN, CSCS, Founder and CEO of ASR Physical Therapy in Miami Beach, Florida. My clinic provides dry needling in addition to our wide range of sports and orthopedics physical therapy and rehab services.
Musculoskeletal disorders affect over 50% of people ages 18 and over, and 75% of people over age 65. These conditions affecting the bones, joints and muscles can be painful and debilitating, affecting daily quality of life, activity, and productivity. The most common conditions are back and neck pain, arthritis, sports injuries, and tendonitis. Dry needling can help with all of these conditions and its use can trigger a powerful healing response in the tissue. Trigger points and taught bands of muscle tissue which cause pain are invisible to imaging devices but can still wreak havoc on the musculoskeletal system. For this reason, people turn to the highly effective treatment of dry needling for relief of pain and restoration of function.
Dry needling is a treatment for myofascial pain, i.e. musculoskeletal pain, utilized by trained physical therapists in the clinical setting. Dry needling uses thin filiform needles to relieve muscular pain and improve movement. It helps by resetting trigger points in the muscles and improving blood flow. It can also help by increasing the range of motion in a joint, improving strength, reducing pain, and speeding up injury recovery. Many people notice decreased pain and increased mobility within 24 hours.
In dry needling, very thin filament needles are placed in myofascial trigger points, near nerves or tissue, in tight bands of skeletal muscle, tendons and ligaments. Needles stay in the skin for 10 to 30 minutes, causing the body to release cytokines, substance P and Calcitonin Gene Related Peptides (CGRPs), which result in vasodilation, increased blood vessel formation, and increased tissue repair. The micro trauma from the needle causes injury signals to be sent to the brain, which in turn act as instructions to the body to repair or replace damaged tissue with healthy tissue.
Dry needling is a safe, mildly uncomfortable, and effective technique for a wide variety of musculoskeletal issues. Research has shown that dry needling can be highly effective for treating spine pain, plantar fasciitis, tennis elbow, shoulder and knee pain, and headaches. Perineural needling is an extremely effective technique in the care of nerve entrapments, lumbar, and cervical radiculopathies, and sciatica treatment,. There are four common techniques for dry needling. These include the non-trigger point technique, Intramuscular Stimulation (IMS), Superficial Dry Needling (SDN) and Intramuscular Electrical Stimulation (IMES). Dry needling treats muscle tissue, connective tissue, and neural tissue, with the goal of reducing pain from acute and chronic conditions, and restoring function.
Although frequently confused, dry needling is not the same as acupuncture. Acupuncture is based on eastern medicine, while dry needling is rooted in western medicine. Treatment is based off of a thorough evaluation of pain patterns, screening of movement impairments, posture, functional mobility, and orthopedic testing. It is often part of a broader physical therapy approach, and is vastly different from acupuncture in the evaluation process, treatment and goals.
ASR Physical Therapy in Miami Beach, Florida, provides dry needling as part of our wide range of physical therapy treatments and pain solutions. Dry needling is an effective tool for treating pain, recovery for athletes, spinal rehabilitation, sciatica physical therapy, post-surgery and injury rehabilitation. We serve the greater Miami Metro Area with a concierge medicine level of care.
Book your dry needling appointment today to experience how it can help you!