Dry needling
What is it?
Dry needling, also known as intramuscular stimulation and trigger point dry needling, is a modern treatment designed to reduce muscular pain. The treatment involves inserting fine stainless steel needles into the skin, similar to acupuncture; these needles don't contain any fluid, hence the name "dry". The treatment claims to stimulate trigger points or "irritable" muscles to help release muscular knots and relieve pain and spasm.
How does it work?
Dry needling aims to reduce pain and restore function.
As we know, feelings of stress and shock create muscle tension; however, this tightness doesn't always subside. I find this article helpful in understanding stress, anxiety and muscle tension.
When a muscle has been tightened, shortened, or lengthened for too long, its fibres will no longer receive adequate blood supply. A reduced blood supply decreases the oxygen and nutrients that facilitate the muscle's return to a normal resting state.
Enter Dry Needling,
Dry needling aims to release and relieve muscle pain and spasm by working needles into hard and knotted muscles.
These areas of tight muscle are also known as myofascial trigger points, aka super sensitive skeletal muscle with a small, bump-like area that can be painful. You might have heard these referred to as palpable nodules.
This muscle area is usually painful on compression and can cause referred pain and motor dysfunction.
The practise of dry needling uses both trigger point and non-trigger point applications. Non-trigger point dry needling works on the basis that pain results from a greater nerve or muscular issue and so it doesn't focus solely on the central area of pain.
Practitioners who use this technique say that applying dry needling to a dysfunctional muscle or trigger point can reduce local and referred pain and tightness and increase blood flow.
When our muscles release and relax, this usually increases our flexibility and range of motion, which might explain why dry needling is often used to treat sports injuries and fibromyalgia pain.
It is worth noting that there are currently no guidelines for dry needling practice, and research supporting its use is limited.
Dry needling doesn't cause pain; it relieves it.
During a treatment a therapist will use their hands to find the trigger point areas before inserting the needles. Once located, the therapist inserts a needle through the skin and possibly moves the needle around a little to initiate a response.
The filiform needles are thin and usually penetrate the skin with little or no sensation. Once the needle is in place, the muscle will involuntarily contract as it releases, which can feel a little like a muscle cramp, but it is short-lived, lasting just a few seconds. After this, any pain subsides, and the trigger point stimulation encourages regular blood supply, flushing out the area and releasing tension.
Some people see immediate results; however, like with most treatments, results vary, and more sessions might be needed.
Is this for you?
Dry needling focuses on releasing the tension in your muscles. If you feel like you have loads of tension, as if there are specific ‘knots' in your body that no massage can kneed out of you, Dry needling might be good option.
It’s fully 'muscle based’, meaning that if your complaints are not caused by some kind of extension or contraction (stress) in your muscles, dry needling might not help.
Often, the therapist executing the needling will ask you to pinpoint your sore points, and work from there. In my experience, the success of your treatment depends a lot on you being able to exactly locate where you feel ‘stuck’.
When the needle hits in the right place, it should give a complete sense of relief.
There is need for some caution for this treatment though:
Even though you feel much better after a treatment, if the root cause to your muscle tension is not solved, dry needling can be a short term solution only.
In many cases, people tense up just the same way if on a deeper level the problems are not solved, and ‘going for dry needling’ just becomes an expensive and repetitive treatment that does not solve your problems.
What is my experience?
I absolutely LOVE dry needling. The feeling of the needle perforating my muscle and then scraping around to create more bliss, I don’t have enough words for how I feel when I’m treated.
One of the best parts is that you can give a lot of input during the treatment. The treatment is very straightforward: your sore spots are exactly what the therapist is looking for. In practice, I myself point my sore spots, and the therapist follows my cue and injects the needle. Based on how close to bulls-eye (trust me you can feel the difference) you coach the therapist a little bit more to the left or right. From there, you get to the absolute tension point, and when the needle hits it just feels like something that is way to feel gets space to empty out.
Imagine this: you put a thick fluid in a balloon to the point of breaking. The plastic is stretching and stretching and you almost don’t want to look because you know it’s about to snap. That’s how my muscles feel. Then the needle comes in, breaks it, and the biggest experience of release follows. I guess it’s not exactly exploding as a balloon might, but more gently emptying like a thicker emulsion. It makes me feel more alive than anything. It makes me believe I can heal, there is a solution and I’m not crazy.
I’m not sure which of those three feelings is the most important one. I’ve had afternoon after afternoon crying happy tears because I’m not crazy. That my pain is real. That there is a physical diagnosis to be made from whatever I’m going through. That there is an ‘issue’ to be solved.
As the treatments can get quite intense, the key to success is to have a therapist you trust and are comfortable with, and, who based on her skills/gifts/experience, is able to connect and check-in with your body and find the different spots of pain that you feel. If someone is just poking left and right, it’s going to leave you incredibly unsatisfied.
The one issue with dry needling for me: it didn’t work for the long term, as probably it wasn’t the root factor of my muscle tension. In the end,This made it a very disappointing and expensive endeavour.
One day after the treatment I was just as stuck as before. I would therefore only recommend this if you are pretty sure you just have a muscular or tissue issue that needs some extra nudge to heal.
How can I try this?
If you’re interested in this treatment, and you have no one in your network that can recommend you someone, Google is your best friend. With the above key-words and desired area you should get quite a lot of result. Please check out my article on How to book a treatment for the first time here.
Disclaimer:
This blog provides general information and discussion about health, treatments and related subjects. I try to shine light on a vast and often ambiguous arena by sharing my own experiences. The words and other content provided in this blog, as well as any linked materials, are not intended and should not be construed as medical advice. I’m not a medical expert. If the reader or any other person has a medical concern, he or she should consult with an appropriately-licensed physician or other health care worker.