When it comes to physiotherapy, many patients usually envision ice packs, hot towels, flexing exercises and strength-building routines. Yet physiotherapists employ a wide range of physiotherapy techniques to help clients bounce back from chronic injuries or surgery, handle chronic conditions, lower discomfort and avoid future complications. And one of the most effective of these therapies is dry needling.
Shocked? You shouldn’t be. Dry needling is a common practice applied by physiotherapists to help in pain relief, increase range of motion, and accelerate the recovery process after an injury. Often mixed up with acupuncture, dry needling is a highly developed manual stimulation practice that’s also utilized to release tension in significantly taut muscles, disperse snarls of muscle tissue, and lessen discomfort and swelling.
Regardless of what you call it, dry needling is a beneficial treatment option for anyone who’s recovering from an injury or other problem. In today’s post, we’ll discover precisely what dry needling is, several typical uses for it, and 7 real benefits you will experience from being treated with this method after surgical treatment or as part of your recovery after an injury.
What is Dry Needling?
Dry needling, also known as IMS Therapy, is a manual therapy technique that’s carried out by placing ultra-small sterile needles into tight or inflamed muscles. The needle is then physically rotated to disperse muscle fibers and activate the surrounding nerves and connective tissues, which helps lessen discomfort, increase blood circulation and promote recovery.
Dry needling is distinct from acupuncture in several ways. To begin with, acupuncture needles are placed in your skin and are not inserted into the muscle (like dry needling). Second, acupuncture is usually done by an acupuncture specialist, who’s trained to recognize and deal with imbalances in your qi (vital force energy), whereas a dry needling physiotherapist is usually proficient in treating your muscle tissues.
Common Usage for Dry Needling
Dry needling is a very versatile therapy, and most patients can profit from it, even when they’re not recovering from surgical treatment or an accident. A few usual uses for dry needling consist of:
- Intense and Chronic Pain: Dry needling is extremely successful at minimizing acute and recurring discomfort, whether you feel it in your muscles, joints or nerves.
- Body Immune System Enhancement: Whenever you experience discomfort, your body produces more cortisol, which is a natural hormone. Too much cortisol can harm your body’s immune system, which can leave you more susceptible to infections and illness. Dry needling can help minimize your cortisol levels, which will enhance your immune system and make you less vulnerable to get ill.
- Muscle Tension, Tremors and Spasms: If you suffer from spasms and tension in your muscles or trembling in your hands and feet, dry needling can help relax your muscles and reduce the trembling.
- Nerve Complications: Dry needling can help activate nerves that are pinched or compressed due to an injury or persistent disorder, like sciatica, carpal tunnel syndrome and wrist discomfort.
7 Benefits of Dry Needling:
Benefit #1: Diminished Inflammation and Discomfort
When you hurt a muscle, your body responds by raising blood circulation to the injured location and saturating it with leukocytes. This process is referred to as inflammation, and it is a natural component of the healing process.
Unfortunately, excessive inflammation and swelling can cause elevated discomfort and slow the recovery process. Dry needling can help in reducing swelling, lower your discomfort levels and speed up your healing time.
When your therapist carries out the procedure, he or she will insert the filament into the swollen muscle tissue and physically rotate it to break up the tightly contracted muscle fibers. This stimulation starts your body’s natural healing process and activates your muscles’ proprioceptors, which loosen your muscle tissues and lessen your pain.
Benefit #2: Faster Healing Process
Whenever you hurt your muscles, nerves and connective tissues, they are often left with scars and adhesions, which can put excess tension on your healthy tissues and joints. Dry needling is an outstanding therapy for getting rid of these adhesions, which can help relieve tension in your joints and promotes blood flow throughout your body, accelerating the restorative healing process.
Benefit #3: Improved Range of Motion
After a muscle or joint injury, you may encounter restricted range of motion, which may make it challenging to move and perform day-to-day activities. Dry needling can help reduce the tension in your muscle tissues and the adhesions in your joints, which can improve your range of movement, decrease tightness and make it easier to move around.
Your physiotherapist will insert the needles into the constricted muscle fibers and physically rotate them to break up scar tissues and loosen your muscle tissues. This will help you feel less discomfort and have more comfortable mobility in your joints.
Benefit #4: Improved Mobility and Strength
Dry needling can help boost your agility and strength, even in the event that you do not have a joint or muscle injury. Whenever you carry out a physical exercise, your muscles contract and generate lactic acid, which can cause muscle ache and diminish your strength with time. Dry needling can help eliminate part of that lactic acid and minimize muscle soreness, which will allow you to build strength and carry out day-to-day activities with less tiredness and discomfort.
Benefit #5: Lessened Risk of Reinjury and Worsening Problems
Injuries are not uncommon, however they can be significantly decreased when you team up with a physical therapist. Physiotherapists employ an assortment of treatment therapies–including dry needling–to help your muscle tissues regain their vitality and strength. By sparking the body’s natural process of recovery and inflammation, dry needling helps guard you from re-injury and helps to stop recurring conditions from getting worse.
Benefit #6: Relieved Muscle Stress and Convulsions
If you struggle with persistent muscle spasms and stress, dry needling can help relieve the pain and tightness you feel. Your physiotherapist will place the needle into the hypertonic muscles and manually turn it to release the stress. Your physiotherapist might also use minor pressure and extend your muscles, which can help alleviate your discomfort and convulsions.
Benefit #7: Decreased Ongoing Discomfort
If you experience long-term discomfort, dry needling can help lessen your pain and make it much easier to manage your condition. Regular trips to your physiotherapist for dry needling will keep getting rid of adhesions and enhancing blood flow to your uncomfortable tissues and muscles. This helps decrease recurring pain and makes it easier to move around and carry out daily activities.
Wrap Up
When carried out by a qualified physiotherapist, dry needling is an extremely helpful therapy for anybody who’s recuperating from an injury or experiencing recurring pain. It is particularly effective at decreasing discomfort, increasing blood circulation and promoting recovery, reducing joint and muscle convulsions and stress, and enhancing range of movement and flexibility.
Consequently, you’ll recuperate faster, avoid re-injuries and enjoy an overall higher quality of living. Contact your local area physio therapist for more details about how dry needling can help you.
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