At UnityPoint Health – Trinity Rehabilitation Services, we use dry needling to decrease muscle tension and provide pain relief. The process involves inserting a fine needle into the trigger points to decrease pain, improve joint range of motion and muscle activation. Patients may feel a little bit of a poke when the needle goes in, and then a little ache as the needle hits the trigger point.

By hitting a trigger point directly, both the patient and therapist will feel a twitch in the muscle. The therapist will move the needle in, out and around until the twitch goes away and the trigger point is released, loosening and relaxing the muscle.

Some patients may feel instant relief, while others may experience soreness for a couple days. Heat, ice and stretching can help with muscle soreness and lead patients to a faster recovery time. Most patients will feel a deep aching or cramping feeling during the dry needling process, but some may have an emotional or systemic response, such as perspiring, in which therapist will review and explain why it happened during the session.

Individuals interested in the dry needling technique will go through an evaluation before the treatment to identify trigger points. The specialized technique is often used alongside manual therapy and therapeutic exercises in therapy programs.

The process of using a fine needle to treat trigger points could be compared to acupuncture, however they are very different treatments. Acupuncture involves placing the needles superficially along meridians to alter flow of energy, while dry needling involves inserting the needles directly into muscles to release tension in that trigger point. Dry needling is also a very quick process, as the needles are only in for a brief amount of time.

Dry needling can help anyone with pain or joint restrictions, particularly in the neck, shoulders, lower back, knees and hips, although trigger points can be found in any muscle in the body. Oftentimes, pain is referred to another location of the body from a trigger point. For example, an individual suffering from knee pain, could actually have a trigger point in their quad muscle, not in their knee.

Within a few treatments, many patients referred by a provider experience pain relief for a variety of conditions. Dry needling is a safe treatment and only trained therapists can provide this service. Trinity Rehabilitation Services has seen many positive effects of dry needling since beginning the technique in 2019.

Michelle Appelgate is a physical therapist for Trinity Rehabilitation Services.