Dry Needling Therapy
Dry needling is a technique used by physical therapists to treat a wide variety of musculoskeletal disorders. By inserting a monofilament needle into the muscle, there is a release of pressure that helps decrease active trigger point activity.
Access Sports Medicine & Orthopaedics offers dry needling therapy to relieve chronic muscular tightness in trigger points. Trigger points are usually areas that can directly compress or irritate nerves, causing pain. For example, office workers commonly complain of muscle tightness in the shoulders, which is often a result of sitting at a desk all day.
Some other conditions that may benefit from dry needling therapy include:
- Neck pain or shoulder tightness
- Tendinitis
- Rotator cuff impingement
- Headaches
- Tennis elbow
- Hip pain
- Iliotibial band (ITB) syndrome
The release that dry needling provides can help:
- Reduce pain
- Increase range of motion
- Restore normal muscle function
Dry needling works best when followed up with stretching and therapeutic exercises to help the muscles restore normal functionality.