Pain and muscle soreness is something that so affects many of us. From short-term pain due to a recent muscle strain, or chronic pain from an old muscle or joint injury that develops into myofascial trigger points. These trigger points are muscle knots that occur when a muscle is placed under stress or strain. They are tender to the touch and can refer pain to distant parts of the body. This pain is usually described as deep, aching and sometimes sharp.
One of the most supported treatments for muscle pain is trigger point dry needling. This is very different than acupuncture or superficial dry needling. Trigger point dry needling has been demonstrated to have a significant effect on muscle tone and myofascial trigger point pain. This occurs through mechanical, electrophysical, chemical and neurophysiological mechanisms. Most of these effects are dependent on eliciting a local twitch response at the trigger point.
Dry needling has been shown to be effective for numerous pathologies such as muscle strains, neck and back pain, jaw pain (TMJ), headaches and chronic pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia. It is especially effective when combined with other physiotherapy techniques and treatments, including manual therapy, exercise and education.
Physiotherapists at Prairie Trail Physiotherapy use the application of trigger point dry needling in their practice following a thorough assessment of your problem or injury. We create a management plan with you, focused on your physiotherapy goals; this can include other therapies such as manual therapy, manipulation, exercise and education. We treat your dysfunction or injury as a whole and not simply treating the “victim” of your pain in isolation. Through our physiotherapy assessment, we help you get to the source of the dysfunction or pain.
Call Prairie Trail Physiotherapy to get set up with your assessment to see if dry needling treatment is right for you!
Sarah Bleichert BMR-PT, MClSc-PT, SPC Sport Cert, FCAMPT
Physiotherapist, Prairie Trail Physiotherapy
Certified in manipulation, sport physiotherapy, acupuncture and dry needling
Developer & Instructor for Integrated Dry Needling (IDN) Certification