Dry Needling

Here at Indergaard Physiotherapy we are qualified in using acupuncture for the treatment of painful conditions.

Our practice is from a western point of view where we apply the needles to stimulate the nervous system to calm the pain that your body is sensing thereby enabling you to move better. We will either insert our acupuncture needles superficially in set patterns according to your pain or we will target specific muscles which may be causing your pain through a technique called dry needling.
Here is some information regarding dry needling and how it can help you.

Intramuscular Dry Needling is not considered acupuncture. In fact, the only similarity with acupuncture is the needle itself. With dry needling, you penetrate the skin, but you are targeting Trigger points. Trigger points are taut bands in the muscle tissue that can create pain and dysfunction, and can cause referred pain down an arm or leg. The needle becomes an extension of our fingers enabling us to get into parts of the muscle that we would not be able to reach by any other technique.

Intramuscular Dry Needling is a procedure in which an acupuncture needle is inserted into the skin and muscle tissue. The needle is directed at muscle trigger points that cause and refer pain throughout the body. In terms of the type of treatment it is, dry needling has no similarities with traditional acupuncture other than the tool. Traditional acupuncture focuses on balancing the flow of energy in the body, whereas, the objective of Dry Needling is to release muscle tension, in order to decrease pain and restore proper function to the body.

As muscles are thought to be the primary contributing factor to the symptoms, Dry Needling can be used for a variety of musculoskeletal problems. Such conditions include, but are not limited to neck, back and shoulder pain, arm pain (tennis elbow, carpal tunnel, Golfer’s elbow), headache (migraines and tension-type), jaw pain, TMJ disorders, buttock pain and leg pain (sciatica, hamstrings strains, calf tightness/spasms), even pain associated with osteoarthritis of the joints. The treatment of muscles has a great effect on reducing pain mechanisms in the nervous system.

Most patients do not feel the insertion of the needle, however the needle can elicit a quick sensation (usually less than a second) called a ‘twitch’ response which may cause minor discomfort. Sometimes when the needle is stimulated through manipulation of the needle there may develop a mild ache around the area which is temporary.
After treatment many patients report a general muscle soreness in the area that has been treated and we will prescribe exercises, stretches and sometimes application of cold packs to further enhance the effect of the treatment.