What is "needling"?

You may have heard through a friend or colleague about the relatively new modality, dry needling (DN), which is also known as Functional Dry Needling or Trigger Point Dry Needling. Typically, the response is overwhelmingly positive and people report fantastic results. It is an evidenced based technique that uses a blunt monofilament needle to release "trigger points". A trigger point is a hyperirritable spot that is painful upon compression, commonly known as muscle knots. These trigger points have characteristic referral patterns, that is, when they are compressed patients consistently feel pain in a different referred area. For example, the trigger point (X) in the neck muscle (upper trapezius) has a referral pattern that causes "tension headaches" (red area).

Historically, we have released deep muscle tension through various techniques such as massage, mobilization, stretching, postural changes, and other modalities. DN is another way to mechanically release trigger points and can be thought of as a manual therapy or massage technique. Recently, the APTA specifically adopted DN into our national practice act, recognizing it as an effective treatment choice for physical therapists.

All of the physical therapists at GSM are certified in Level 1 Dry Needling and can effectively treat spine and extremity problems. Darcy Cook, MSPT has been practicing DN since 2012and is Level 2 Certified.  In addition to the Level 1 skills, Level 2 allows her to treat more specialized disorders such as TMJ disorders (temporal mandibular joint) and tension type headaches. We are seeing great results with back or neck pain, shoulder dysfunction, lower extremity pain, headaches, etc.

The goal of DN is to resolve pain, restore motion and function, and ultimately return our patients to their active lifestyles. The combination of DN with more traditional physical therapy interventions has proven to have excellent outcomes and we have found DN to be an outstanding adjunct to our practice.

Check out our website for additional information regarding needling, or give us a call and make an appointment!