Dry Needling

Dry needling (DN) is a skilled intervention used by physical therapists that uses a thin filiform needle to penetrate the skin and stimulate underlying myofascial trigger points, muscular, and connective tissues for the management of neuromusculoskeletal pain and movement impairments. A trigger point describes a taut band of skeletal muscle located within a larger muscle group. Trigger points can be tender to the touch and can refer pain to distant parts of the body. Physical therapists uti-lize dry needling with the goal of releasing/inactivating the trigger points and relieving pain. Preliminary research supports that dry needling improves pain control, reduces muscle tension, normal-izes biochemical and electrical dysfunction of motor endplates, and facilitates an accelerated return to active rehabilitation.

Resource: (http://www.apta.org/StateIssues/DryNeedling/ResourcePaper/)

Advanced Clinical Applications: For severe, fibrotic tendon issues that fail to respond to standard dry needling, we elevate our intervention. Explore our Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Electrolysis protocol to see how we permanently resolve dead tendon tissue.