This special technique is very common in our practice. It is the insertion of a very thin but solid filiform needle into a “knotted” part of the muscle tissue: commonly known as a trigger point. It is used specifically to deactivate and desensitise these trigger points and to stimulate a healing response in the muscle fibres.
How is this different to acupuncture?
The needles used are the same in many cases. Acupuncture is based on the use of ‘meridians’ (or channels) derived from traditional Chinese medicine culture where needles are inserted to specific acupoints to unblock energy meridians and balance the bodily systems.
Dry needling differs from this as your therapist will first find and then use the needle on an active trigger point (the knot) to provoke a ‘twitch’ response. The twitch is very important, healthy and unaffected muscle will not twitch when stimulated by a needle so when you feel a twitch is it is both diagnostic and therapeutic. After the twitch response the muscle fibres in that area will relax and circulation is improved for better tissue healing.