When it comes to physiotherapy, most folks ordinarily think of ice bags, heated towels, stretching exercises and power-building routines.
Yet physiotherapists employ a wide range of treatment methods to help clients recuperate from injuries or surgery, manage chronic problems, minimize pain and avoid future issues. And one of the most effective of these treatment options is dry needling.
Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Dry needling is a typical procedure used by physiotherapists to help minimize pain, improve range of movement, and speed up the recovery process after an injury.
Regularly done with acupuncture, dry needling is a modern hands-on stimulation procedure that’s also utilized to release strain in significantly taut muscles, break up snarls of muscle fibers, and decrease discomfort and inflammation.
Regardless of what you call it, dry needling is a worthwhile treatment for anyone who’s recovering from an injury.
In this article, we’ll discover what dry needling is, a few typical applications for it, and seven health benefits you’ll enjoy from being treated with this method after surgical treatment or as one part of your rehabilitation from an injury.
What is Dry Needling?
Dry needling, also referred to as IMS Therapy, is a manual stimulation technique that’s carried out by inserting ultra-tiny needles into tight or irritated muscles. The needle is then physically rotated to disperse muscle tissues and stimulate the nearby connective tissues and nerves, which helps lessen discomfort, improve blood flow and promote recovery.
Dry needling is different from acupuncture in a couple of ways. To start with, acupuncture needles are positioned in your skin and aren’t inserted into the muscle (like dry needling).
Secondly, acupuncture is typically performed by leaving the needle in place for several minutes, while dry needling is a more dynamic technique, as the needle is moved around the muscle.
Frequent Uses for Dry Needling
Dry needling is a very flexible treatment option, and many clients can benefit from it, even though they are not recovering from surgical treatment or an accident. A few common uses for dry needling consist of:
- Sharp and Chronic Pain: Dry needling is exceptionally successful at reducing severe and chronic muscle discomfort.
- Muscle Stress and Tension: If you suffer from muscle tension, dry needling can really help relax your muscle tissues and minimize tension
- Nerve Complications: Dry needling can help stimulate nerves that are pressed or compressed due to an injury or chronic disorder, including sciatica.
7 Health Benefits of Dry Needling:
Benefit #1: Decreased Swelling and Pain
When you hurt a muscle, your body reacts by raising blood flow to the injured area and infusing it with white blood cells. This process is called inflammation, and it’s a normal component of the recovery process.
Regrettably, excessive swelling and inflammation may cause elevated pain and slow down the recovery process. Dry needling can help in controlling inflammation, lower your discomfort levels and shorten your healing period.
When your therapist performs the treatment, she or he will insert the needle into the irritated muscle tissue and manually rotate it to break up the tightly contracted muscle strands. This stimulation triggers your body’s natural healing process and activates your muscles’ proprioceptors, which help loosen your muscle tissues and decrease your pain.
Benefit #2: More Rapid Healing Process
Whenever you damage your muscle tissues, nerves and connective tissues, they’re often left with adhesions and scars, which can place excessive tension on your healthy tissues and joints. Dry needling is an outstanding treatment method for dispersing these adhesions, which can help relieve stress in your joints and promotes blood circulation through your body, speeding up the therapeutic process.
Benefit #3: Improved Range of Motion
After a muscle tissue or joint injury, you may encounter limited range of movement, which can make it challenging to move and perform daily activities. Dry needling can help in reducing the tension in your muscle tissues and the scar tissue in your joints, which can help enhance your range of motion, minimize tightness and make it easier to move around.
Your physiotherapist will place the needles into the constricted muscle fibers and physically turn them to break up scar tissues and loosen your muscles. This will help you experience less pain and have more flexibility in your joints.
Benefit #4: Increased Mobility and Strength
Dry needling can help improve your mobility and strength, even if you do not have a muscle or joint injury. Any time you carry out a workout, your muscle tissues constrict and produce lactic acid, which can cause muscle soreness and lessen your strength with time.
Dry needling can help remove some of that lactic acid and minimize muscle pain, which will enable you to build more strength and carry out everyday activities with less tiredness and pain.
Benefit #5: Decreased Threat of Reinjury and Worsening Conditions
Injuries are common, however they can be significantly decreased when you work with a physiotherapist. Physiotherapists employ an assortment of treatment techniques–including dry needling–to help your muscles recover their vigor and strength.
By triggering the body’s natural process of recovery and inflammation, dry needling helps shield you from re-injury and serves to prevent chronic conditions from becoming worse.
Benefit #6: Relieved Muscle Spasms and Tension
If you have to deal with chronic muscle stress and spasms, dry needling can help alleviate the pain and tightness you feel. Your therapist will place the needle into the hypertonic muscle tissues and manually turn it to release the stress. Your physiotherapist may also apply slight pressure and stretch your muscles, which can help alleviate your spasms and pain.
Benefit #7: Decreased Chronic Pain
If you struggle with long-term discomfort, dry needling can help in reducing your pain and make it easier to handle your condition. Regular visits to your physiotherapist for dry needling will keep dispersing adhesions and improving blood flow to your painful tissues and muscles. This helps reduce long-term discomfort and makes it easier to move around and perform everyday activities.
Wrap Up
When carried out by a trained physiotherapist, dry needling is an extremely successful treatment for anybody who is recovering from a muscle injury or experiencing recurring pain. It is especially effective at lessening discomfort, increasing blood circulation and promoting recovery, reducing muscle and joint spasms and tension, and improving range of motion and flexibility.
As a result, you’ll recuperate more quickly, prevent re-injuries and appreciate an overall higher quality of living. Contact your local physiotherapist for additional information about how dry needling can help you.
Contact the experienced health professionals at Maximum Physiotherapy right away and we can begin relieving your pain. Now scheduling new clients!
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