Meet The Expert

Dr. William Dodson

Doctor of Science in Orthopedic Physical Therapy, Board Certified Orthopedic Specialist, Certified Hand Therapist, Certified Wound Specialist

 What is Trigger Point Dry Needling?

Trigger Point Dry Needling can help find and eliminate neuromuscular dysfunction. Dry Needling refers to a therapeutic treatment involving a filament needle. By advancing the needle multiple times into the muscle tissue of an area, it creates a trigger point. There is nothing injected from the filament needle.

The dry needle causes some discomfort and pain when it is advanced into the muscle tissue. A healthy muscle tissue will feel very little discomfort, but damaged, sensitive or shortened muscles will activate a pain similar to a muscle cramping. This is a twitch response to the needle advancing into the muscle. The twitch response can be determined by the skill of the practitioner. By judging the amount of discomfort, as well as the area affected by it, we can use this to diagnose the cause of the pain.

It typically requires 2-4 treatment sessions for the patient to begin experiencing positive results from dry needling. With very few side effects, this is an effective treatment for acute and chronic pain, injury rehabilitation, and pain and injury prevention.

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