Dry Needling

I am so in love with dry needling because of its instantaneous relief. When you’ve been trying everything you can to release a muscle and it’s not working, I highly suggest going the dry needling route. We use an acupuncture needle and physically insert it into a trigger point of the tight muscle. Sometimes, that trigger point within the muscle will start to twitch, which is a great sign that we’ve hit the correct spot for relief. Don’t be scared of the needle or the pain! The needle is small enough in diameter that many don’t even realize when I have inserted it. And, it actually hurts less than other muscle techniques I use (cupping, Graston, Myofascial release (ART))!

I get the question quite a bit of, “how is this different from acupuncture?”. I’d like to address that because it’s a great question. Acupuncture is a Chinese medicine and follows the Chinese meridian patterns in the body. Dry needling involves finding exact trigger points and inserting the needle - potentially applying electric stem to the needle which effects the muscle even more. When electric stem is applied, the trigger point is literally being melted away.

Dry needling is so fun for me because my patients will have instant results versus anything else I can offer. When you have a tight muscle or a knot, you are very aware of the pain it causes. The other part of what I do is education! For instance, I can relieve the muscle pain you’re having, but I also want to find out why you’re having the issue. You could have super tight traps which is causing headaches - but why? Is it because of how you sleep? Is it because you’re overworking some muscle groups while underworking others? We’ll work on exercises to ensure we correct the root issue, too.

Dry needling is the most invasive thing I do, but also the most effective when you want instant results. Give me a call to discuss your exact needs, you’ll be so glad you did.