Dry Needling is a technique used by our myotherapy and chiropractic practitioners. It involves insertion of a fine filament needle into the muscle in the region of a “Trigger Point” or tight band of muscle. The aim of Dry Needling is to achieve a local twitch response to release muscle tension and pain. This technique is unequalled in finding and eliminating neuromuscular dysfunction that leads to pain and dysfunction.

The needle used is very thin and most subjects do not even feel it penetrate the skin. However if the muscle is sensitive and shortened or has active trigger points within it, the subject may feel a sensation like a muscle cramp –‘the twitch response’. The patient also may feel a reproduction of “their” pain which is a helpful diagnostic indicator for the practitioner attempting to diagnose the cause of the patient’s symptoms. Patients soon learn to recognise and even welcome this sensation as it results in deactivating the trigger point, reducing pain and restoring normal length function to the involved muscle.

Dry Needling differs from acupuncture as the points are based on the trigger points of Western Medicine. Acupuncture is based on the ‘meridians’ from ancient China.