Acupuncture and dry needling involve inserting sterile needles through the skin and tissues to effect pain relief in acute and chronic conditions.
What is acupuncture & dry needling?
During both acupunture and dry needling treatments small, sterile, fine needles are inserted through the skin.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture stimulates the body to produce its own pain relieving chemicals called endorphins resulting in pain relief amongst other benefits.
Dry Needling
Dry Needling releases muscular trigger points, tightness and spasm which can be causing pain and movement dysfunctions.
What Are Trigger Points?
Myofascial trigger points are hyper-irritable spots found in tight bands of muscles or in the muscle’s fascia layer. They are usually very painful when pressure is applied to them and the pain can radiate to various areas in the body. This muscular tightness and spasm will cause compression and irritation of the nerves exiting the spine. When the nerves are irritated, they cause a protective spasm of all the muscles to which they are connected.
Trigger points in one area can affect strength, flexibility and co-ordination of muscles causing altered movement patterns. These abnormal movement patterns can result in stress and strain to areas far away from the actual trigger, and lead to a decrease in sports performance for athletes.
Dry Needling
FDN is a treatment that uses very small, sterile acupuncture needles to release muscular trigger points, tightness and spasm which can be causing pain and movement dysfunctions.
The needles cause the muscles to contract and release, improving flexibility of the muscles and decreasing symptoms. It causes a minor trauma to the tissue which results in an increased blood flow in the area.
Various biochemical changes have also been shown to occur following this technique. All of these effects combine to normalize the muscle tone and thereby desensitize the nerve compression.
This allows the muscle to be receptive to rehabilitation to restore normal movement patterns and peak performance of the muscular system.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture, an ancient form of Chinese medicine, originated at least 2500 years ago. It has been scientifically shown to encourage natural healing, reduce or relieve pain and improve function. It is safe and effective and is often successfully used in the management of acute or chronic conditions.
Acupuncture involves the insertion of very fine sterile, disposable needles through the skin and tissues at specific points along the body called acupuncture points. There is no injection of any substance and the treatment itself causes minimal discomfort.
Scientifically acupuncture has been shown to produce biochemical changes within the body that result in the release of endorphins, which assist in the alleviation of pain and the promotion of tissue healing.
Are you wondering if acupuncture or dry-needling can help you?
Our physiotherapists are certified to provide acupuncture and dry-needling to augment your treatment plan to manage your acute or chronic issue.