I am absolutely ecstatic that I finally get the opportunity to offer dry needling to my patients in need. You may ask, “What the heck is dry needling?” It’s funny that a technique that has been dated back over 500 years to heal the neuromuscular system is so unknown in today’s world. Simply put, dry needling is similar to basic Chinese acupuncture where concepts revolve around inserting thin filament needles in the soft tissue trigger points (muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments) in order to relieve pain and restore the healthy physiology of the body. Do you have tendon muscle knots and nodules? Osteoarthritis? Pathologies of the soft tissue such as tennis elbow, plantar fascitis, shin splints, or chronic shoulder injuries? Severe headaches all the time? Are you taking pain killers daily to just help you make it through the day? Dry needling may just become your best friend!

Dry needling is perfect for athletes, active people, and those individuals that are always over doing it both physically and mentally. So how does it work? Dry needling is specific to trigger points in specific muscles. Trigger points are tight bands and bundles in the muscles that elicits pain locally and also refers pain to other areas (example: muscle of the neck generate optical headaches, or tension headaches at the temples). Placement of needles in the trigger points elicit a twitch response and often works more quickly than most other therapies since the needle hits right to the source of pain and releases it. Patients typically do not feel the needle inserted; however, they may feel slight aches, cramps, burning as the muscle relaxes in to his normal physiology. This causes better circulation to the muscle, substantial pain decrease, increased range of motion, and improved strength, control, and recovery of specific muscles.

This technique is one of the most powerful modalities in treating soft tissue dysfunction. To find out if this therapy could be beneficial to you, contact our office at Optimal Chiropractic in Crown Point to schedule an initial consultation with the doctor at 219-661-8680. Also don’t forget to read up on our other blog posts at www.chiropointchiro.com !