Dry Needling

Dry needling is a safe and effective way to help relieve pain, especially when it’s combined with other forms of physical therapy. With this technique, a trained physical therapist inserts a “dry” (meaning there is no medication) needle into the tissue to help decrease pain, improve blood flow, and improve overall function. It can be very useful to help treat tissues that are inaccessible via manual techniques, especially those tissues that have a negative impact on the following conditions:

  • Acute or chronic neck and back pain

  • Shoulder pain

  • Elbow tendinitis

  • Hip pain

  • Ankle stiffness

  • Plantar fasciitis

  • Muscle tightness and other movement impairements

Most of the research suggests that dry needling is most effective when combined with other forms of physical therapy treatments. So why would someone want to do just dry needling?

There are a few scenarios when dry needling alone may be effective:

  • There is no serious tissue damage present, only an underlying tightness that may be impairing movement

  • As a “maintenance” treatment to be done every so often after you have already completed a bout of physical therapy for a specific injury

  • As a supplement to your own individual exercise plan

Questions about the benefits of dry needling?

Reach out so we can discuss the option that may be best for you.