What is dry Needling and how does it differ from acupuncture?
Dry Needling and acupuncture both use monofilament needles of varied length and width. With dry needling, they are used to release trigger points in muscles and tendons. With acupuncture, they are used to cause systemic change in the body.
Dry needling is a form of therapy performed by physical therapists using small, monofilament needles inserted into muscle, tendon, ligament or fascia to stimulate a healing response in painful musculoskeletal conditions.
Dry needling can:
Release trigger points (taut bands) in muscle tissue that cause pain, muscle spasm, and radicular symptoms
Increase blood flow and circulation/ Promote tissue healing
Reverse Chronic Pain Patterns Dry needling can interrupt pain signals to and from the brain, causing a positive chemical change in the surrounding tissue
Relieve Headaches and TMJ-related pain
HOW DOES DRY NEEDLING WORK and HOW DOES IT DIFFER FROM ACUPUNCTURE?
Dry Needling and acupuncture both use monofilament needles of varied length and width.
With dry needling, they are used to release trigger points in muscles and tendons. With acupuncture, they are used to cause systemic change in the body.
Dry needling is based on trigger point therapy, while acupuncture follows pathways in the body, called Meridians (“energy channels”).
Acupuncture is also based on Chinese Medicine/ claims to balance physical, spiritual and emotional imbalances.
Dry needling is used to release trigger points via a local twitch response in the muscle. Once the trigger point is released, the muscle can begin to return to normal length and function. The normal microtrauma caused by the needling stimulates a healing environment in the surrounding tissue.
Dry needling combined with electrical stimulation has been shown to reverse centrally-mediated pain.
(See, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3201653/)
WHAT DIAGNOSES CAN BE TREATED WITH DRY NEEDLING?
These are some of the many diagnoses that can be treated with dry needling:
Neck pain and upper extremity radicular symptoms (numbness and tingling in hands and/or arm)
Headaches
Sciatica
Shoulder impingement
Tennis elbow
Low Back Pain
Plantar Fasciitis
Patellofemoral Pain
Achilles tendinosis
WHAT IS INVOLVED IN A TYPICAL DRY NEEDLING SESSION?
After being evaluated by a physical therapist, the therapist determines the location or area of the body to be dry-needled. Treatment can usually be completed in about 30 minutes and is often followed by heat or ice and /or specific exercises to re-train the affected muscles.
Why Private Practice?
Our primary mission is to provide evidence-based treatment and education in lifelong self-care. We have no affiliation with a hospital or physician group and are truly an independent small business.
Did you know that Richmond Physical Therapy is owned by a physical therapist? Do you know why we believe being an independent practice is right for our patients and for us? Our primary mission is to provide evidence-based treatment and education in lifelong self-care. We have no affiliation with a hospital or physician group and are truly an independent small business.
Why do we feel being independent is right for us and our patients? We have no ill will towards hospital organizations or large physician practice groups. In fact, we work closely with physicians from across the state to provide each patient with a high level of care. However, we feel there are a few reasons that may set apart our private, outpatient, physical therapy clinic from others.
Even though we are private, we still have excellent relationships with physicians in community-based groups and large university hospitals.Some of these relationships have been ongoing for over 25 years and continue to benefit our patients. We have easy access to these physicians and can easily contact them directly to discuss your case or obtain any necessary medical records. Even though we are a “private” practice, we have established ourselves in the community as providing excellent care as evidenced by the continued referrals from these larger organizations.
We feel the main benefit of our private physical therapy practice is that all of our services are provided “in-house.” Our schedulers, administrative staff, therapists, and owner are all within feet of one another regularly. And we interact daily to resolve any and all concerns. Patient issues are solved immediately by going directly to the therapist, clinic director, or owner as needed.
Our patients are our most important referral source. We want to meet your every need from the beginning of your care to the end. We make ease of scheduling a priority, and all patients are offered an appointment within 48 business hours of their phone call. We have our own billing staff who are experts in understanding the idiosyncrasies of health insurance. Our staff will teach you all you need to know about your plan.
Our practice is about taking care of our patients from their first contact with us until the final bill is paid. With over 50 years total of private physical therapy care under our belts, you will be very pleased with your experience with us. And, as a private practice, the owner is merely a phone call or email away if you need him.