Chronic Pain: Can Dry Needling Help?

If you are like most people with persistent pain, you know how disruptive it can be to your quality of life. In desperation, you have likely tried every common treatment under the sun. Although traditional treatments for pain management can work wonders for some individuals, they often only mask the symptoms of a much deeper problem. 

At One Accord Physical Therapy, we believe that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for pain. Our specialists provide individualized treatment plans that match your unique needs and desires. If you want to avoid surgical intervention and the use of prescription medication, discover how dry needling may help.

What causes chronic pain?

A trigger point is an inflamed or irritated area of muscle. Chronic pain is persistent suffering in one or more of these trigger points. Trigger points can be located anywhere throughout your body, from your scalp to your toes. This pain may be constant, or it may come and go, but the pain never goes away permanently. Sadly, chronic pain can be debilitating and is caused by a variety of ailments, such as:

• Sports injuries
• Workplace accidents
• Sciatica
• Automobile accidents
• Surgery
• Autoimmune diseases
• Migraine headaches
• Osteoarthritis

Dry needling 101

Not to be confused with acupuncture, dry needling is an all-natural and drug-free pain management technique that invokes your body’s instinctive response to healing where your pain hurts the most. This method of treatment involves the use of tiny, sterile, stainless-steel needles that are gently inserted into your trigger points. By targeting the precise location of your pain, dry needling relieves pain at its source instead of merely masking it. 

What to expect

Before your dry needling session, your doctor will perform a thorough examination to learn your medical history and to determine the cause of your suffering. Once a treatment plan is determined, your provider will sterilize the area and insert the tiny, sterile needles into your body’s trigger points. Because dry needling does not require the use of anesthetics or injections of any medication, there are no side effects or recovery times for you to be concerned with. 

After your appointment, you will begin to feel relief and can drive yourself home from our clinic. Depending on the severity of your pain, you may require several treatments before the relief is permanent. 

Additional treatment options

Dry needling is an excellent treatment method for pain management, but the best outcomes of dry needling may involve the use of traditional physical therapy, including:

• Massage or manual therapy
• Patient education
• Electrical stimulation
• Chiropractic care 
• Physical therapy

Don’t let chronic pain stop you from living your best life. If you are seeking pain management without surgical intervention or the use of narcotics, dry needling may be the solution for you. Contact our office to learn more or to schedule an appointment today.