Dry Needling – Oklahoma Physical Therapy – Choctaw

19 Sep Dry Needling – Oklahoma Physical Therapy – Choctaw

Dry needling has gained traction in most physical therapy circles because it is quite effective in alleviating a variety of pains related to muscular dysfunction; particularly those pains related to muscular trigger points, tension, overuse, spasms, and strains. For anyone experiencing muscle tension and muscle spasms, there’s a big chance that dry needling would be helpful.

At Oklahoma Physical Therapy in Choctaw, there are experienced and certified physical therapists using dry needling to treat muscle pains of the head, lower back, arms, hands, neck, shoulders, face, legs, and feet. There’s a growing body of research findings that shows that dry needling can even help patients that are suffering from conditions like arthritis, nerve irritation, herniated discs, and ligament strains.

Dry needling continues to expand its influence and may also be called “trigger point” dry needling, intramuscular manual therapy, or intramuscular stimulation. It is an invasive procedure that desensitizes and deactivates a patient’s muscle tissue/tension using an acupuncture needle. The whole process is performed manually and involves the insertion of the acupuncture needle.  The needle may be manipulated in the affected area, sometimes resulting in a local twitch response of the muscle.

An acupuncture needle is preferable to a hollow injection needle because it is small, fine and solid and does not cause pain for the patient as it moves through their skin, essentially it is far less traumatizing to the tissue when compared to a hollow injection needle.

Unlike most soft tissue techniques, dry needling can treat the deeper layers of a patient’s muscles that  fingers and hands cannot reach, or where direct pressure cannot reach without creating undesired pressure upon other more superficial tissues.

It is excellent for working within highly sensitive muscle tissue, where conventional hands on pressure techniques are too uncomfortable.  Furthermore, it is simply more effective in certain patient groups than conventional hands on myofascial release techniques, even if sensitivity is not an issue.  What’s more, because this technique requires no injection of drugs, physical therapists are able to do more during each procedure; including treating more than one area and including other helpful treatments for benefiting the patient.  Sometimes the greatest benefit of dry needling is when performed in conjunction with other physical therapy interventions, such as soft tissue mobilizations, stretching, and resistance exercise.

Just a few of the possible benefits of dry needling include:

• Lasting pain relief
• Improved blood flow in treated tissues
• Decreased muscle tension
• Fast acting relief from symptoms
• Release of muscle spasms
• Increased joint range of motion
• Fast restoration of desired functional activities