Dry needling

Dry needling uses very thin, sterile, single-use needles inserted into a specific tight or tender point in a muscle, a myofascial trigger point. These points feel like a firm band or knot under the fingers, and they commonly refer sensation somewhere other than where they sit, which is part of why the source of a pain is not always where you feel it.

It is one option among several used here, not a treatment in its own right. It gets used where the assessment points to muscular trigger points as part of what is going on.

How it differs from acupuncture

The needles are the same. The reasoning is completely different.

Acupuncture comes out of traditional Chinese medicine and works from its own map of the body. Dry needling is based on Western anatomy: the needle goes into a particular muscle, identified by examination, because that muscle is part of the clinical picture. Nothing about meridians or energy is involved.

“Dry” simply means nothing is injected, it distinguishes the technique from a wet needle delivering a substance.

What it feels like

Most people do not feel the needle enter. What they notice is a brief twitch or cramping sensation when a trigger point responds, strange rather than painful, and over in a second or two.

Afterwards, some muscle soreness for a day is normal, much like after a firm massage. The chiropractor will tell you what to expect before you leave.

When it gets used

Typically alongside other treatment rather than alone:

• Deep muscular tension that has not settled with hands-on work
• Trigger points referring sensation elsewhere, a common feature of neck and shoulder presentations
• Calf and foot musculature in plantar fasciitis
• Neck, shoulder and jaw musculature in headache presentations
• Muscular load that accumulates through a training block, in sports presentations

When it is not used

The chiropractors screen before using it, and it is not appropriate for everyone. Tell reception or your chiropractor if you are pregnant, taking blood thinners, have a bleeding or clotting disorder, have a compromised immune system, or have a needle phobia. Any of those and it simply is not part of your treatment. There is nothing here that only responds to needling.

You can also decline for no reason at all. Nothing is done without your agreement.

What it sits alongside

• Chiropractic adjustment for joint restriction
• Massage therapy across a broader area than a needle addresses
• Rehabilitation exercises, which are what stop a trigger point re-forming once it has settled

That last point is the one worth taking seriously. Needling a trigger point that keeps returning without changing the load that creates it means needling it again next month.