Dry Needling | What Is It & What You Should Know

Just the sight of a pack of needles could give some people nightmares. But guess what? Dry needling uses special needles that have a very small diameter so the pricking doesn’t hurt, like not at all when done by professional physiotherapists.

Dry needling isn’t acupuncture; it’s a modern western medicine principle supported by research, while acupuncture is the traditional Chinese medicine. Dry needling is also known by some other names like intramuscular manual therapy and trigger point dry needling.

What do you need to get started with dry needling?

First, you need needles. Actually, first you need to be trained, and then you need needles. Dry Needling involves the use of filiform needles that penetrates the skin at special myofascial trigger points, thus stimulating them and the relating muscles and connective tissues. With this technique, the physical therapist is able to target those tissues that aren’t otherwise palpable, manually.

Apart from the needles, physical therapists also require personal protective equipment (PPE) like gloves and alcohol swabs.

Dry Needling is Amazing for Muscle Pain Relief!

The purpose of dry needling is to activate trigger points in the body for the purpose of muscles relaxation, myofascial release and pain alleviation. There has been preliminary research that supports the pain relieving benefits of dry needling through reduced muscle tension, and by the normalization of muscle motor end plates, that could dysfunction at times when the body’s muscles are put under rigorous tension. With dry needling, a patient’s rehabilitation time can largely be reduced.

When you contact a physical therapist, make sure that you ask them their experience and education in holistic medicine. 

Need more super information on dry needling, check out today’s episode on the 411. We are dipping our toes into dry needling; what it is, why it’s great (or not so great), how it’s useful and most importantly: how it’s done in the latest instalment of the 411.