Debbie WebberYou may have heard of a treatment called dry needling and wondered what it is or if it’s right for you. While the name of the procedure may sound intimidating, dry needling is an accessible and commonly offered therapy for people with muscle, ligament, or tendon pain.
Dry Needling introduction
During a dry needling treatment, one or more thin, monofilament needles are inserted into a muscle trigger point. A trigger point is a local band of tight, irritable, and dysfunctional muscle tissue. This often emerges because of injury, overuse, or poor movement patterns. Trigger points can disrupt your muscle function, restrict your range of motion or cause pain and tenderness.
When dry needling is applied to an affected muscle or trigger point, it can decrease muscle tightness, increase blood flow, and reduce pain. Clients often report immediate relief after treatment. The needles remain in your muscle for a short period of time— between 10 seconds and 20 minutes — during treatment. This depends on the treatment location, number of needles used and treatment goals.
The needles used are solid and don’t inject liquid into your body. It’s the reason this treatment is referred to as “dry.” All forms of acupuncture use dry needles as well.
Dry needling is a safe technique for treating many musculoskeletal conditions, including shoulder pain, rotator cuff pain, biceps tendinitis, Achilles tendinitis, low back pain, tennis elbow, whiplash or neck pain, headaches, muscle strains, hip pain and temporomandibular pain, also called TMJ.
Appointments are available. Book online via our website www.zen-chi.net.au or call the clinic on 07 3482 2549.
Jo Shipley
Sharne Young
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