Trigger points & Dry Needling

You’ve probably heard us Physios mention dry needling before, but read on to find out why we use this as a treatment technique.

Dry needling is the use of single-use acupuncture needles to treat pain that is originating from Myofascial (muscle and fascia) trigger points in a muscle.

A muscular trigger point is a painful spot in a muscle that is associated with twitching of the muscle when manual compression is applied. The pain can be mild to excruciating and can give rise to characteristic referred pain to another region of the body, weakness, tightness and autonomic phenomena such as sweating, eye watering and vaso-constriction.

The referred pain of trigger points can be very strong, or it can be a vague ache you can’t put your finger on/touch. It doesn’t follow patterns of nerves and so it is often not diagnosed or mis-diagnosed.

The referred pain of trigger points can often cause headaches, neck and shoulder pain, arm pain, lower back pain, pain in buttocks or sciatica.

Some examples of trigger point pain patterns:

Travell, J., Simons, D., Simons, L. (1999). Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual (2nd ed.). Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins

Trigger points do not show up on CT, MRI, Ultrasound or x-ray scans – they need to be diagnosed by a qualified manual therapy practitioner (such as your Physio). You’ll find us asking lots of questions about the pattern of the pain, the location and the aggravating and easing factors.

Trigger point pain often doesn’t improve with Panadol and anti-inflammatories and it can be very frustrating to get a correct diagnosis and find effective treatment.

Dry needling is safe and incredibly effective when performed by an experienced practitioner. Dry needling can be painful locally, and during treatment may also cause familiar referred pain to specific areas, often reproducing your pain symptoms. It can ache for a couple of hours after the treatment (up to a couple of days in some instances). Usually the pain then subsides to a better level.

Our Physios at 3D all offer dry needling so you can discuss your pain at your next appointment.

Blog by Julie Sheahan, Director and Physiotherapist