What is Dry Needling?
Dry Needling treats myofascial pains. The causes of these pains can vary from trauma, posture and chronic overuse, all the way to stress and fatigue. The muscle reacts by tensing up and creating a very localized and painful area of the body, commonly referred to as a triggerpoint. When triggerpoints are stimulated, they usually cause pain that starts in that exact area of the body, while giving rise to pain in other areas of the body via a specific radiation pattern. For example, triggerpoints in the gluteal area could give rise to pain along the leg.
Why do we love it?
Dry Needling is a technique that works quickly to relax tense muscles, dissolving your acute pain and/or lack of mobility. But it’s not a magical solution to all your pains. It is simply part of the overall therapy and we should always investigate further to find out why your muscles are tensing up in the first place. Is the tension in your neck the result of bad posture? Stress? Lack of movement? Weak back muscles? After a thorough physical examination, we can help you attack the root cause through manual therapy, education, relaxation, exercise therapy and much more…
What does this therapy look like?
After our examination, we start by treating the muscles that are responsible for your pain. In chronic pain, this is usually more than 1 muscle. We enter the muscle with a thin needle to look for those tender spots, and you’ll feel the fibers in your muscle contract when the needle hits the triggerpoint. Afterwards, the muscle will feel heavy and tired, which is why we end the session with massaging and stretching the muscle to improve recovery.
After the treatment, it’s always best to enhance circulation and relaxation of the muscle by applying a heat pack. And at the same time, it’s also recommended to stretch the muscle and keep active.
Do you think dry needling could be beneficial for you? Book in a session with Annelies or Lara. We are looking forward to help you!