Dry Needling

Dry needling is a western form of acupuncture. Where traditional Chinese medicine uses acupuncture needles to stimulate particular points on ‘meridians’, dry needling uses acupuncture needles to stimulate trigger points in muscles and areas of pain using scientific knowledge of anatomy and physiology to stimulate healing and provide pain relief. Physiotherapists are able to perform dry needling if they have undertaken appropriate education after graduation. At Prime Physiotherapy, several of our practitioners are certified to perform dry needling. A trigger point is defined as a tight, irritable and painful spot within a muscle. Trigger points can cause referred pain or headaches, referred tenderness, poor muscle and nerve function and “autonomic” responses such as temperature and skin changes over the site of the problem. Trigger points are commonly seen in both acute and long term pain conditions. Dry Needling can alleviate the symptoms of trigger points quickly and effectively by eliciting a twitch response. You may feel the twitch response as an odd cramp like sensation which then re-sets the chemical imbalance between the muscles and nerves to cause a decrease in muscle tension. Prime Physiotherapy employs an accepted procedure, using only sterile single use needles and an aseptic technique for patient safety. Informed consent is obtained before proceeding with any type of therapy.