Dry Needling

Dry Needling is a treatment technique that uses thin, solid, filiform needles to treat and deactivate trigger points, which are painful knotted areas in your muscles. Because dry needling can treat deep parts of the muscle, it often results in immediate and long lasting pain relief, especially when combined with traditional physical therapy. Upon inserting the needle, we elicit a “twitch response” or involuntary contraction of the muscle, followed by relaxation. Because the needles are so thin, patients usually do not feel the insertion of the needle, but describe the twitch response as a brief “cramping” sensation.

Although the needles used for Dry Needling are the same needles used in acupuncture, it must be made clear that the technique is not acupuncture as described by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) or practiced by licensed acupuncturists.