Dry Needling

Physical therapists including chiropractors use dry needling to assist in reducing muscular pain and tension. It is not the same technique as Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture as it is only used to treat musculoskeletal issues. Other names for dry needling include:

  • Myofascial trigger point needling
  • Myofascial acupuncture
  • Sports acupuncture

It involves the insertion of stainless-steel needles into well-defined points within the affected muscle. The precise intramuscular stimulation can be very effective in promoting healing, relieving pain and improving range of motion.

 

Our technique

After sanitising the skin over the area of tension a fine filament single use needle is carefully inserted into the targeted muscle or muscles to assist in the release of the myofascial trigger point. This is often referred to as the “knot” that you may feel in your muscles when getting a massage or doing foam rolling at home. Prior to inserting the needle, you will feel the plastic guidance tub push up against the skin. Sometimes you can not feel the needle be inserted into the muscle while other times you may feel pain or a short and localised twitch response in the muscle. The needles are left in for 5-20 mins for the best response yet will be taken out earlier if you do not enjoy the feeling. After removing the needle there is usually no or a small red dot mark where the needle was placed yet sometimes can cause minor bleeding, swelling and bruising in which an ice pack is suggested.

 

Benefits of dry needling

Similar to cupping dry needling is most responsive when combined with our other treatment techniques. Not all patients attending the office will receive dry needling due to their diagnosis, contraindicating conditions, practitioners preferred treatment technique or in some cases a patients phobia of needles.  Our main interest is in the beneficial effects dry needling has on your musculoskeletal and nervous system which include:

  • Relax muscles
  • Release trigger points
  • Restore muscle activation
  • Improve muscle strength
  • Decrease pain
  • Speed up recovery times
  • Improve blood flow and oxygenation
  • Conditions include (back pain, neck pain, knee pain, foot pain, shoulder pain, headaches and sports injuries).

 

Cupping

Cupping is and effective technique used by our practitioners to promote healing, pain relief, muscle relaxation, facial releasing, flexibility and reduce tension. It has also been described as one of the oldest and most effective methods of releasing the toxins from body tissues and organs. It involves the application of special cups to the skin to create suction and upward pull of the skin into the cup. This creates swelling and increased blood flow to the affected area, drawing out impurities and toxins toward the surface from nearby tissues and organs for elimination favouring recovery.

 

Our cupping technique

Our preference is dry cupping which involves the use of plastic or silicone cups. The cups are applied to the skin over areas of tension such as the upper and lower back, shoulders, pelvic area. The plastic cups have a small valve at the top where a manual pump is connected to create suction. The silicone cups have no holes and suction is simply created by pushing down on the top of the cup. There are different suctions strengths from light, medium and strong and the application time is usually 2-10 mins depending on your practitioner and also on patient comfort levels. We find massage cupping and sliding cupping also extremely effective for reducing tension and find this most effective with out silicone cups due to their flexibility and ability to modify itself to the shape of your body and anatomy. It is common after cupping to have red marks, circles and bruising from the suction known as ecchymosis. These marks can last from a few hours or can take up to 10 days to disappear.

 

Benefits of cupping

We find cupping is most effective when combined with our other treatment techniques including massage, stretching, chiropractic adjustments and dry needling. Our main interest is in the beneficial effects cupping has on your musculoskeletal and nervous system which include:

  • Reduce pain and inflammation
  • Improve blood flow and lymphatic drainage
  • Relaxation of sore and tight muscles
  • Relief of neck and back pain
  • Reduction in headaches and migraines
  • Relieve muscle spasms
  • Increase range of motion and fl/ exibility
  • Reduce adhesions
  • Facilitate the healing process
  • Is also low risk, safe and non-invasive therapy