Dry Needling (also known as Intramuscular Manual Therapy - IMT) is a new and powerful treatment administered by physical therapists. Patients across the world have been experiencing amazing results from Dry Needling by physical therapists. IMT is an evidence-based treatment that is changing the way physical therapists treat soft tissue injury and pain.

What is Trigger Point Dry Needling? - Trigger Point Dry Needling is a treatment for chronic muscle trigger points, soft tissue injury, muscle tightness, and chronic pain.

• Trigger point Dry Needling requires highly specialized training. Few medical professionals are trained in the evaluation and treatment of trigger points.
• This technique is unequaled in finding and eliminating neuromuscular dysfunction that leads to pain and functional deficits. The treatment of muscles has the greatest effect on reducing pain.
• Inserting a needle into trigger points can cause favorable biochemical changes, which assist in reducing pain.

When is Trigger Point Dry Needling used by your Physical Therapist?

• Dry Needling can be a powerful adjunctive treatment at Allen Therapies, Inc., though it is important to remember that Dry Needling is only one part of the treatment component.
• Physical therapy will likely also address biomechanical muscle imbalances, postural dysfunctions, muscular flexibility limitation, strength deficits, and swollen or stiff joints. These will restore a patient's optimal physical function.
• A multidimensional treatment approach is paramount for a successful recovery.

• Muscle tightness
• Sports injuries
• Shoulder pain
• Neck and back pain
• Arm pain (tennis elbow, carpal tunnel)
• Headaches and migraines related to tension and neuromuscular pain within the cervical spine
• Jaw Pain
• Chronic pain syndrome
• Hamstring problems
• Pain related symptoms that have not resolved through traditional treatment methods

What parts of the body do you treat?

• Muscles are thought to be a primary contributing factor to the symptoms.
• Treatment is based on the source of your pain, whether it is in your foot, shoulder, knee, hip, or any other place in the body!

What happens during a Dry Needling Procedure?

• Dry Needling is an invasive procedure in which a solid filament needle is inserted into the myofascial trigger point and a local twitch response is ideally elicited. This twitch response is an involuntary contraction of the muscle that allows the muscle to relax.
• It is essential to elicit so-called local twitch responses, which are spinal cord reflexes. Getting local twitch responses with Dry Needling is the first step in breaking the pain cycle.

What does Dry Needling feel like and is it painful?

• Use of a sterile filament needle, which is very thin, solid, and flexible, is inserted into the skin and muscle directly at the trigger point.
• Most patients do not feel the insertion of the needle.
  
• Once the needle enters the trigger point, the patient will feel the muscle "Grab", twitch and then release.
  • Some patients describe this as a little electrical shock; others feel it more like a cramping sensation.
  • Again, the therapeutic response occurs with the local twitch response and that is a good and desirable reaction.
• After the Dry Needling treatment, immediate improvement can be noted.

Why is my doctor not familiar with Dry Needling? - In the US, Dry Needling is a relatively new method for treating chronic pain and not everyone aware of this effective modality.

What is a Trigger Point?

• Trigger points are extremely irritated contraction knots found in tight bands of muscles. These spots in a tight band of muscle will cause referred pain. You might feel a tight band of tissue for example in the upper trapezius muscle in your upper shoulder. In the middle of that tight band, you might feel a small hard nodule. That's a trigger point. The nodule will be painful when you press on it.
• Trigger points in a muscle often are associated with a referred pain pattern. That is, a patient may feel pain down the back of the leg, but the source of that pain may be located low back. By treating the source of the pain, the leg pain will resolve.
• The needle effect produces immediate relief of pain and restores the normal physiology to the muscle.

How many treatments will I have? - Some patients will see significant positive results in just a few treatments and others may require more treatments. This depends on the extent and duration on your condition, the amount of scar tissue, and the rate of your body is healing.

How does Dry Needling differ from Acupuncture?

• Dry Needling is strictly based on Western medicine principles and research.
• Chinese acupuncture uses ancient Chinese concepts of energy channels, meridian systems and pulse assessment to develop needling techniques.