If you’ve been exploring treatment options for muscle pain and tension, you may have come across the term dry needling. Not only can dry needling help reduce muscle pain and discomfort, it, can also improve your flexibility and range of movement. In this blog post, we’ll break down what dry needling is, how it differs from acupuncture, and the numerous benefits it can provide.

What is dry needling?

Dry needling is a treatment technique which uses very fine, sterile, needles (the same type used in acupuncture), to target myofascial trigger points, which are tender and tight spots in your muscles. Dry needling works through many different pathways within the body to produce a therapeutic effect. These include biomechanical pathways as a result of direct interaction between the trigger point and the needle, as well as increasing blood flow to the area and helping with pain modulation. As a result, dry needling can be a useful tool to help reduce muscle tightness, relieve pain, improve range of motion, increase blood flow to the area and facilitate healing. It is often used alongside other techniques to optimize your treatment outcome.

How is it different to acupuncture?

While both practices use the same type of needles, the insertion points are based on different systems. Acupuncture is derived from Chinese medicine, and needles are placed into acupoints along meridians (energy-channels), with the goal of balancing qi (energy) in the body. Dry needling is based on myofascial trigger points (tender areas in your muscles and fascia), with needles placed in and around these points, aiming to get a twitch response.

What can dry needling be used for?

Dry needling can be used for a variety of conditions, including sports injuries, arthritis, muscle stiffness, fibromyalgia pain and repetitive strain injuries. More specifically it can be beneficial for:
– Tendon injuries such as tennis/golfers’ elbow, Achilles and gluteal tendinopathy
– Rotator cuff injuries and bursitis of the shoulder
– Postural tension, neck pain, headaches and migraines
– Low back pain and sciatica
– Temporomandibular disorder (Jaw pain)
– Ankle sprains and plantar heel pain

What does an appointment with dry needling look like?

Before any dry needling is performed your osteopath will go through a thorough history, clinical examination and then discuss with you if dry needling may be beneficial for your condition. During treatment, your osteopath will locate myofascial trigger points, an alcohol swab will then be used to disinfect the area, and then the needles are inserted. The number and location of the needles is individual to each patient and will be discussed with your osteopath. Dry needling is often used in conjunction with other osteopathic techniques as part of your treatment, rather than as a stand-alone technique.

Does dry needling hurt?

While everyone’s experience is different, often patients find dry needling to be more comfortable than other techniques such as soft tissue massage, particularly when there is an acute injury, or the area is particularly sensitive. When the needles are inserted, you may experience a quick pricking sensation, and then once in the muscle there may be a muscle twitch or a deep ache, which means that it’s in the right area, and the muscle is responding. Occasionally, following needling you may experience some minor bruising around the
insertion sight and may feel fatigued or sore for the next 24-48 hours. This will all be discussed with you before and after any dry needling is performed.

Dry needling isn’t an appropriate treatment technique for those with infections, bleeding disorders, in the first trimester of pregnancy, young children, if you have had recent surgery, are taking anticoagulants, or if you have a phobia of needles.