Therapeutic Dry Needling
Dry needling
…is referred to “dry” since there is no fluid injection taking place. This is different from most needles that people are familiar with when they go to the doctor’s office. The needles used are smaller and do not have an opening in them. This makes them much easier to insert.
The concept of dry needling is
sometimes confused with acupuncture.
It uses acupuncture needles, but it is not acupuncture. Acupuncture is based in eastern medicine and involves meridians and energy flows. Dry needling is based in Western medicine and centers around the work of Janet Travell on trigger points in 1942.
Dry needling involves the use of thin acupuncture needles that are inserted into specific trigger points within muscles to alleviate pain and improve range of motion. It targets myofascial trigger points – knots or tight bands of muscle tissue – by stimulating a localized twitch response. You can sometimes feel these myofascial trigger points areas, particularly in your neck and shoulders where they will feel like small hard “knots”. This response (twitch) releases tension increases blood flow and promotes healing within the affected area. As a result, patients undergoing dry needling experience reduced pain levels and improved functional outcomes.
At the CORE Centers in East Texas, incorporating dry needling into their comprehensive rehabilitation programs has proven highly beneficial for patients seeking pain relief and accelerated rehabilitation. By targeting trigger points directly instead of relying solely on traditional manual therapies like massage or stretching exercises, patients can achieve quicker results and long-lasting improvements.
