Dry Needling

Dry needling aims to reduce muscle pain and dysfunction by releasing tight areas in the muscle, known as myofascial trigger points. Myofascial trigger points are tender points within tense bands of muscle. Normal muscle does not contain these tense bands. Once activated, these trigger points may cause muscle weakness, restricted range of motion, as well as local or referred pain. Hypersensitive trigger points can develop following trauma, longer-term unresolved pain, overload in a muscle, overuse due to poor postures and repetitive active loading, or when the body is in a stressed and tense state.

Dry Needling involves inserting a fine needle similar to an acupuncture needle into these trigger points. This produces a twitch response in the muscle and you get a deactivation of the trigger point and a relaxation in the overall tone of the muscle. This results in decreased pain and improved muscle function.

Dry Needling is often not painful at all, but if you are not a fan of needles don’t worry as there are other techniques we can use to relieve your pain.