Benefits of Dry Needling

Posted at 19:01h in Lifestyle, Lower Back Pain, Lower Back Region, Upper Back & Neck Region by Jarrod

The routine of life is relentless. Stress is a constant. There’s so much to do that you never really give your body the time to recover. Your sleep suffers or is shortened. To compensate, you keep yourself alert with caffeine. Perhaps you push yourself harder than you should when you’re training—after all, we all deal with stress in different ways.

There’s only so long your body can cope under this kind of pressure before something gives. Drive your car fast enough for long enough, and something will go wrong. It’s like that with your body. Your muscles will begin to tighten and some will become sore to touch. You might find your range of movement starting to become restricted, and your body will generally feel stiff.

If this sounds like you, you should consider dry needling. It’s a little more ‘western’ than acupuncture, in that we use needles to relieve pain and soreness in the muscles that have become tight and sore—we call these trigger points.

What is Dry Needling?

Dry Needling is an effective treatment technique which involves fine-filament needles being carefully inserted into a targeted muscle or muscles to assist in the release of a myofascial trigger point, consequently reducing pain.

What are the Benefits of Dry Needling?

Dry needling may assist to decrease pain and improve functioning of the targeted muscle.

Release of Myofascial Trigger Points

A myofascial trigger point, often referred to as a ‘knot’ in the muscle, occurs when a group of muscle fibres does not return to a relaxed, lengthened state after a period of activation.

A myofascial trigger point can be painful during touch, movement and stretching due to an inability to move normally or acquire fresh, oxygenated blood supply. They may be caused by injury, stress, illness, nutritional deficiency, nerve impingements or other atypical occurrences in the body.

Dry needling aims to release these myofascial trigger points, therefore relieving pain and improving the person’s ability to move and use the affected area.

Decrease Pain or Discomfort

As dry needling is a localised treatment able to target the area of pain, it may lead to a reduction in pain. A release of inflammatory chemicals, tension and pressure in the area allows for this. When you have less pain in the area, you can return to physical activity, sleep better and recover faster.

Improve Range of Motion

When the myofascial trigger points are released, the area has less tension and compression, therefore, range of motion is improved. Decreased tightness and pain of the muscles is also likely to improve the person’s ability to stretch and move the area with less restricted.

Due to this benefit, dry needling may assist individuals with injuries related to long term overuse or incorrect technique. For example, a cricket bowler may develop tension or a myofascial trigger point in their dominant bowling arm due to continued and high intensity use of those muscles. Dry needling may assist to relax the area, improve range of motion and have a positive effect on performance.

Decrease Recovery Time

Dry needling allows for increased range of motion and decreased pain meaning you can get back to the activity you love faster.

Dry needling offers a number of benefits, primarily the release of myofascial trigger points which leads to decreased pain, increased range of motion and faster recovery time.

Dry Needling can be used to treat a wide range of conditions such as:

NORTHERN SPINAL & SPORTS INJURY CLINIC IN RESERVOIR & MELBOURNE IS HERE TO HELP…

As soon as the needle is inserted, the muscle twitches in response, and this brings immediate and palpable relaxation. Releasing the muscle spasm means you can move freely once more, without pain. It will also help you gain more control over the muscle function, so you can activate and deactivate it without cramping. Our team of allied health professionals including Osteopaths, Chiropractors, Physiotherapists & Podiatrists use dry needling as an evidence-based form of treatment for acute and chronic pain, musculoskeletal injuries or sports injuries.

So if you want to give pain the needle call our Reservoir or Melbourne CBD clinics on 03 9470 1010 today!