Dry Needling, for treatment of pain and movement impairments. Dry Needling involves the application of acupuncture needles into tight, painful areas in your muscles known as ‘Trigger Points’, or sometimes referred to as ‘knots’ in the muscles.
Dry Needling is performed to elicit a healing response in these tissues, but is different to acupuncture as it is not necessarily aimed at specific ‘acupuncture’ points. Dry Needling has been proven to be a very effective way of relaxing spasmed muscles, reducing inflammation and relieving pain.
Acupuncture has been used in China and other Asian countries for thousands of years. In the last decade, western medicine has shown a grown interest in acupuncture and dry needling. As a result, quality and quantity of research into the benefits of needling injuries has increased. Although more research still needs to be done, it is becoming clearer why needling has stood the test of time in Chinese medicine.
What is the difference between Acupuncture and Dry Needling?
Acupuncture is a technique whereby the needles are placed in specific, pre-determined acupuncture points. These points are located along meridian channels that help the ‘qi’ energy from inside the body (core organs) to more superficial tissues.
Dry Needling is a form of acupuncture where the needles are placed in muscle ‘trigger points’. A trigger point is a discrete, irritable, overactive point in skeletal muscle or fascia that can be felt as a nodule or band in the muscle. Touching the trigger point reproduces the complaint of pain, so area’s of needling is dependent on the therapist feel and reports of reproduction of pain.
What are the benefits of Dry Needling?
Research has shown that acupuncture increases the micro-circulation, blood flow and blood vessel movement throughout the body, which intern increases oxygenation of the tissues. This helps flush toxins, waste products and other accumulated particles and chemicals from the tissues improving their overall function.
Benefits of Dry Needling:
- Relieve pain and muscle tightness
- Improved joint range of movement
- Speeds up recovery
