What Happens to Your Body After Dry Needling?
Dry needling, also referred to as trigger point therapy, is a physical therapist treatment used for pain relief. It’s often part of an overall physical therapy plan to address musculoskeletal pain and movement difficulties.
Dry needling is a safe, natural and effective way to release tight muscles and promote healing. It helps relieve pain, increase range of motion and speed up recovery time for injured athletes.
Pain Relief
When a needle is inserted into a trigger point, your muscle relaxes and allows for increased blood flow to the area, providing oxygen and nutrients necessary for tissue healing.
The needle also induces microtrauma, stimulating tissue repair and regeneration. This helps reduce the accumulation of acidic chemicals responsible for inflammation and pain.
Your provider can pinpoint your trigger points (muscle knots) using their expertise of anatomy and physiology. Once they identify the trigger point, your provider will insert a needle directly into it for safe release of tension.
Your muscles may experience a local twitch response, or sudden spasm of the muscle. Although this reaction can be uncomfortable, it usually resolves after 24-48 hours of gentle stretching and massaging with massage techniques.
Dry needling is an efficient and secure way to reduce and relieve pain in the musculoskeletal system. When combined with physical therapy, dry needling can expedite recovery time and restore normal joint function.
Increased Range of Motion
Dry needling can provide your muscles with increased flexibility and looseness, as the needles release trigger points and ease muscle tension that causes knots or pain.
Additionally, stretching can improve blood flow to help your body get the oxygen and nutrients it needs for healing. Studies show that this treatment method is more successful than stretching when it comes to relieving pain from fibromyalgia.
Physical therapists frequently incorporate dry needling into a physical therapy treatment plan for patients suffering from trigger points or myofascial pain syndrome, as it helps to expedite healing and facilitate quicker recovery times.
Increased Blood Flow
Dry needling is an effective treatment for many conditions. When used as part of a comprehensive care plan, it can reduce pain, promote mobility and restore function.
Your physical therapist or licensed acupuncturist will identify a tight area of tissue that’s causing pain, muscle spasm and tenderness. Once they’ve located this trigger point, they insert a needle into it to loosen up the tight connective tissue.
You should experience a sensation similar to receiving an electric shock. This is usually indicative of how well your muscles have responded to the needle.
An increase in blood flow is beneficial as it aids healing and allows essential nutrients to reach cells and tissues within muscles.
Relaxation
Dry needling is a technique used to address trigger points in the body. These are tight, often knotted muscles that cause pain and physical limitations.
Needles inserted through the skin into trigger points cause small muscle twitches, believed to relax muscles and release tension.
Muscle twitches may also help stimulate better blood flow to an area. This increased circulation helps nourish tissue and flush out inflammatory chemicals.
Many patients report feeling relaxed after their initial session of dry needling. Some may need multiple sessions for optimal results to take hold.
Trigger point dry needling can be an effective treatment for conditions such as TMJ disorder, shoulder pain, neck pain and back pain. It also improves overall muscle health and flexibility when combined with stretches and exercises to maximize its effects.
If you’re interested in trying dry needling, visit our home page to learn more about our services and contact us to schedule an appointment with our team of specialists.