Dry Needling: Is It A Treatment Option for You?

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Dry Needling Is It A Treatment Option for You?
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• Dry needling isnt a new technique, however,
  over the past few years is has started to gain
  traction within the physiotherapy community. More
  practitioners now use it to assist with the
  rehabilitation of their clients. I personally
  have been doing dry-needling for about 5 years
  and have really found it a great adjunct to many
  conditions patients present with. There is still
  a lot of unknown about dry needling and its
  connection with acupuncture and this article will
  hopefully help give you a better understanding of
  the similarities and differences.
• Now would be a great time to skip on if you
  have no interest in dry needling!!

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What is dry needling?

• Dry needling is a technique that uses small
  filament needles (exactly the same as
  acupuncture) to help release trigger points to
  relieve pain and/or increase range of movement.
  It has shown to have a positive effect on injury
  recovery in patients by increasing their muscle
  function. Continuing to operate with poor or
  restricted muscle function has the potential to
  lead to further damage or inflammation.

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• The reasons for dry needling being effective
  are not fully known, however with increasing
  scientific support there has been research
  showing dry needling to have a positive effect on
  the electrical and chemical communications that
  take place in our central nervous system. This
  can include inhibiting the pain response which
  can have obvious benefits within the recovery
  from injury.

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What is the difference between dry needling (what
we offer) and acupuncture?

• There are a lot of similarities between
  acupuncture and dry needling as the needles used
  are identical. The main difference however is dry
  needling is based on a western anatomical and
  neurophysiological approach, whereas acupuncture
  uses Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

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• TCM is based on pulses, coatings and
  meridians from ancient Chinese philosophy with
  needles inserted into defined acupoints, intended
  to unblock the energy meridians and restore the
  balance within the whole body. Dry needling uses
  current medical research and the placement of the
  needles doesnt always match up with acupoints.
  Whatever the theory, the positive affect on pain
  relief reported is generally consistent. This is
  whether treatment is administered as part of dry
  needling or acupuncture.

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What does it feel like?

• When first inserting the needle there may be
  a small pinch or prick, however a lot of the time
  the needle is not even felt on insertion. A local
  twitch response or slight contraction of the
  muscle is what will be felt for most needles and
  this may provoke a sudden but brief pain
  response.

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• Gaining this twitch response is a desirable
  reaction as it normally results in the patient
  reporting a positive therapeutic response.
  Treatment will differ for everyone, with some
  patients feeling relaxed and others experiencing
  heaviness in the limbs or a generalised ache.
  Muscle soreness is a common symptom and may be
  felt for 24-48hours post treatment. The
  physiotherapist providing this treatment option
  will check in regularly with the patient to
  ensure that the treatment response is normal and
  you are not in too much discomfort.

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Is dry needling safe?

• Dry needling is a very safe technique. All
  the needles are single use and individually
  packaged sterile needles. Physiotherapists follow
  strict hygiene procedures and techniques to
  ensure the needles remain sterile prior to being
  inserted. The needles are very fine (.13 .30mm)
  and will rarely cause bleeding or bruising.

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When is it used?

• We like to use dry needling as an adjunct to
  many treatment options. My personal treatment
  preference as a practitioner is a very hands-on
  or manual approach and this is an ideal that
  Peter (my colleague at the practice) shares. We
  find this provides the best results for patients.
  We use dry needling as an addition to this style
  of treatment.

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Does it cost any extra?

• Absolutely not! If dry needling is performed
  as part of your treatment then it is all covered
  under our standard pricing. However, we do
  recommend that you leave up to 45 minutes for
  your treatment instead of the standard 30 minutes
  while we let the needles have their prolonged
  effect.

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• For further information about dry needling
  please feel free to email me ben_at_northwestphysio.
  com.au or ask Peter or myself at your next
  appointment.
• http//northwestphysio.com.au