Dry Needling
Do you regularly suffer from sore or stiff muscles? If so, dry needling may be the solution to your symptoms. Sore or stiff muscles are often the result of muscle knots or hardenings in the muscles.
Dry Needling is an effective treatment method to “dissolve” these knots or hardenings. Dry needling is also often used successfully for shortened muscles or muscles that do not want to recover properly due to surgery or accidents.
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What is dry needling?
Dry needling, sometimes also reffered to as Intramuscular Stimulation (IMS), is a treatment method that involves poking a needle into the thickenings of a muscle. The treatment is used, among other things, for the treatment of myofascial pain syndrome, stiffness and pain in the muscles.
Pricks with a thin needle
During the treatment, the muscle is stimulated with a thin needle. Initially, a reflex contraction of the muscle occurs; this is called a ‘Local Twitch Response’. It is slightly feelable for the patient. The idea is that afterwards the muscle will release. This may be immediate (the patient then immediately feels a kind of looseness), or it may occur later.
Better circulation
More relaxation in the muscle means that the blood flow increases and recovery can occur. Mobility in adjacent joints may also improve. The experienced pain decreases and muscle and joint function increases.
Pricks with a thin needle
During the treatment, the muscle is stimulated with a thin needle. Initially, a reflex contraction of the muscle occurs; this is called a ‘Local Twitch Response’. It is slightly feelable for the patient. The idea is that afterwards the muscle will release. This may be immediate (the patient then immediately feels a kind of looseness), or it may occur later.
Better circulation
More relaxation in the muscle means that the blood flow increases and recovery can occur. Mobility in adjacent joints may also improve. The experienced pain decreases and muscle and joint function increases.
Dry Needling is not acupuncture
Dry needling is not acupuncture and, unlike acupuncture, has no energetic framework. Also, it does not use meridians to determine the points of needling.
In the Netherlands, the treatment is performed by physiotherapists and it is included in their professional profile by the Royal Dutch Society for Physiotherapy since 2007.