At Arkansas Muscle & Joint, Dry Needling is one of our favorite treatment options that we love to use in conjunction with additional chiropractic and rehab therapies! Dry needling arguably has the best researched clinical outcomes in treating myofascial trigger points and is becoming the go-to in specific soft tissue problems.

What is a trigger point? A trigger point is a knot in the muscle that can cause symptoms from dull, achy pain to nerve-like radicular symptoms. 

 

How does it work? A thin microfilament needle is inserted into the muscle or muscles that are causing the pain and or referral pattern. Often the patient will feel that muscle quickly twitch due to the “twitch response”. When done properly this leads to pain relief and for the muscle to relax. 

Conditions Dry Needling is used to treat:

• Headaches/Migraines 

• Myofascial Trigger Points

• Tight Muscles (causing neck/back pain)

• Post-Surgical Scar Tissue

• Soft Tissue Pain Due to Nerve Compression

• Tendinopathies

• And More

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Is dry needling painful? Majority of patients find dry needling to be minimally uncomfortable. It is common to experience soreness in the areas needled for roughly 24 hours following the session.

 

Is this the same as acupuncture? No, acupuncture, in simplified terms, utilizes more of a full body global approach and bases its treatment more so on Eastern medicine. Dry needling is highly researched and utilized by multiple professions to treat specific areas in the musculoskeletal system.