Dry Needling
Bondi Junction Eastern Suburbs Sydney - Physio Demonstrates

What is dry needling?

Dry Needling is a method that uses micro filament needles to penetrate muscle tissue and stimulate trigger points (regions of knotted or constantly contracted tissue). This technique is designed to decrease pain and treat impairments in muscle function, leading to improved activity and participation.

The thin needles penetrate the skin and stimulate underlying myofascial trigger points, as well as muscular and connective tissues. They help release and relieve any associated muscle pain, stiffness or spasms.

Therefore, by stimulating trigger points and muscles that are irritable, these needles creates intramuscular stimulation that provides therapeutic benefits.

Common treated areas are neck, shoulder, back and knee pain, along with other forms of musculoskeletal pain, both acute and long-standing.

Acupuncture vs Dry Needling

With both acupuncture and dry needling, therapists use thin, stainless steel needles. Acupuncture is based on holistic practices of spiritual alignment and energy focus. Dry needling is an evidence based treatment focused on the principle of easing muscular tension and pain.

Therefore, dry needling is a more modern treatment compared to acupuncture, and is based around anatomical and neuro-physiological principles. Its focus is on easing muscular and related pain, and resolving mobility issues.

An example: Dry Needling for Corks

A very common contact injury is a muscle contusion or otherwise known as a cork. If you experience a cork it’s important to get good early management to ensure the best outcomes. Without monitoring the injury, you can experience complications such as Myositis Ossificans, a condition where bone tissue forms inside muscle or other soft tissue after an injury, causing a hard lump or bump to develop within the affected muscle. 

Dry needling can be a great treatment modality to speed up healing and get back on the pitch quicker. In fact, it helps to reduce pain locally by releasing CGRP (calcitonin gene related peptide), and enkephalins, as well as facilitating local healing with fibroblast remodelling and increasing of the blood flow.

The more severe a contusion, the greater the risk of the development of Myositis Ossificans. 

If you experience a cork, play it safe. Come in and get it checked out.

At JW Physical Health our physios only use single-use sterile needles that are disposed of after each use. All of our physios have taken the appropriate certification courses to ensure standardised, evidence based, safe dry needling techniques.

In the video above, a demonstration of treating the left upper trapezius muscle.

In this case, the patient carries a lot muscle tension in his upper traps, partly the result of his golf and tennis playing. Hence, the purpose of this treatment is to alleviate the trigger points and knots in the muscle that develop from over activity. And the goal is to produce the involuntary muscle “twitches” that occur when the muscle is stimulated, and can lead to a pain-relieving effect after the treatment has ended.

More Information About Dry Needling: Bondi Junction Eastern Suburbs Sydney - Physio Demonstrates

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