Dry Needling - What is it?

Put simply, dry needling involves putting thin sterilized needles through the skin into taut bands of muscle called trigger points. The reason it is called ‘dry’ needling is because the needle is one without medication or injection. Trigger points are more commonly referred to as muscle ‘knots’ and can play a big role in the production and cycle of pain. When a muscle has a trigger point it may feel very tight and tender and can refer pain elsewhere. For example trigger points in the muscles around your shoulder blades (scapular region) may refer pain into your shoulder or arm. When a needle is inserted into a trigger point it relaxes the contracted muscle. Goolwa Physio has physiotherapists trained in Dry Needling. They use dry needling to help release trigger points and settle muscle spasm. Pain and dysfunction can often be caused by muscle spasm, so when this is eased, dry needling can relieve pain and reduce dysfunction.

How does dry needling exactly work?

The exact mechanism of dry needling is not completely understood but research suggests that when a muscle is stimulated by a needle, a local twitch response is activated in the muscle. Local twitch responses are spinal cord reflexes and activate the bodies nervous system to begin a chain of reactions to help aid healing and break the pain cycle.

Does dry needling hurt?

More often than not patients do not feel any discomfort when they are dry needled! If the trigger point is large or if the muscle is in a lot of spasm then patients may feel a slight sting or cramp when the needle is inserted but this usually settles quickly. In lots of cases dry needling is more comfortable than other treatment techniques like deep tissue massage in settling muscle spasm.

Who dry needles?

Most physiotherapists at Goolwa Physio are trained in dry needling.