What Are Trigger Points?
Trigger points or “muscle knots” are sensitive spots within a muscle that can be tender to touch. They can form after an injury, overuse of your muscles or from muscle guarding from a spinal injury. Touching an active trigger point may refer pain to other parts of your body. This can be seen here in these pictures below. The “X” is the trigger point and the red is the referring pain pattern.
Our physical therapists use Dry Needling to relax your trigger points, reduce pain and normalize your muscle function so you can be functioning at a higher level than when you walked in the office.
Does It Hurt?
During your dry needling procedure, a physical therapist will insert a thin, sterile needle into the skin to shut down your muscular trigger points. The length of the needle will depend on the area of your body that is being dry needled. Most patients feel little or no pain as the needle is inserted. The needles are typically used once per muscle and discarded.
The entire procedure takes as little as 5 minutes. After the procedure, patients typically experience pain relief lasting from a few hours to several weeks. While the side effects from dry needling are usually minor, patients can experience:
- Small bruising at the dry needling site
- Soreness that usually disappears by the next day
Once the procedure is complete, your physical therapist will work to create an individualized plan that uses the benefits of dry needling along with other therapies.
