What is Dry Needling?

Dry needling is also known as trigger point dry needling (TDN) and intramuscular stimulation (IMS). It is a skilled intervention performed by physical therapists in which fine solid filament needles are inserted into myofascial trigger points (painful knots in muscles), tendons, ligaments, or near nerves in order to stimulate a healing response in painful conditions.

How does dry needling benefit me?

For a purely muscular problem, placement of a fine needle into a myofascial trigger point can change the electrical activity within that muscle and "reset" the system, kind of like rebooting a computer, also known as eliciting a local twitch response (LTR). This causes the body's natural healing process to become more efficient, decreases pain, and improves function, strength, and flexibility. Several other tissues that are well researched through the literature benefit from dry needling as well. Ligaments, scar tissue, tendons, bones, and teno-osseous insertion sites, all of which are forms of connective tissue, have been found to benefit from dry needling.

Sounds a lot like acupuncture. How is it different?

Dry needling is different from acupuncture in several ways: Dry needling is NOT used for the purpose of altering the flow of Qi (energy) along traditional Chinese meridians to treat disease. Dry needling is a modern, science-based intervention for the treatment of pain and dysfunction in musculoskeletal conditions. It is based on western neuroanatomy and modern scientific study of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. Dry needling is used in conjunction with or in place of other physical therapy techniques to obtain better, faster, and longer-lasting outcomes.