More and more people are curious about dry needling for muscle pain and tension. It is an incredibly effective way to take away muscle knots, pain and tension. These knots, commonly called myofascial trigger points, are muscles that have gotten shortened and tight. They feel like a cord as you push over them. These areas are usually painful to touch, can cause pain in the area and to other parts of your body called referred pain.

Over the last 8 years Cornerstone has been using dry needling with over 80,000 successful treatments!

Watch this video on dry needling as I treat my own knee!

NO ONE should have to dry needle themselves! You can try dry needling for just $39 by an experienced practitioner.

What is dry needling?

There are different types of dry needling. Both have the goal of reducing muscle tension. The most common is to insert the needle or filament into the knot and piston into the trigger points. Getting a local twitch response or LTR is a positive event but doesn’t have to happen to have success. This LTR is a reflex that happens when the trigger point is reached. This causes a relaxation of the muscle afterward.

Another form of dry needling uses two filaments while hooking up a TENS unit to cause a muscle contraction. This is not a painful treatment and you should feel a tapping. We have learned over the years that fatiguing the muscle is best and over 15 minutes of this dry needling helps more than just a few minutes. Here is a video showing a typical treatment.

Some muscles like the piston technique and others do better with the current, or electrical stimulation (estim).

Is dry needling painful?

Dry needling is no more painful than getting the same area massaged. One way to reduce soreness or pain with the treatment is to use a smaller needle. Cornerstone consistently uses smaller diameter needles to improve your comfort. We have found over years of treating that reducing the size or thickness of the needle reduced ~80% of post-treatment soreness. 

Cornerstone consistently uses smaller diameter needles to improve your comfort.

How safe is dry needling?

Overall dry needling is very safe. The safety of dry needling is fully the responsibility of the practitioner doing the treatment. The better trained and more experienced practitioners typically treat a larger range of muscles and are usually quicker and less painful. The good news is that dry needling can be very effective no matter what the experience. A good rule to follow is if it is very painful or sore, or not working, this could be related to how bad the trigger point is but also a need to try a different part of the muscle.

If it is sore for days following or very painful

– don’t give up on dry needling –

try a different approach

You can also improve the safety of dry needling as well as its effectiveness by using diagnostic ultrasound.

Check out this video on dry needling and ultrasound.

Want to try this amazing treatment? Call us at 719-596-5000 or contact us.

What conditions can dry needling help?

Runners with painful hips and knees

Sciatica from piriformis muscle tension

Back pain and tension

Tennis elbow responds very well

Headaches that have tension to the neck

TMJ with jaw pain and pain with chewing

Works great in shoulder tension and knots

Calf and lateral thigh tension responds well

Any area that you feel a knot in the muscle!

Can dry needling help my migraines?

Dry needling for headaches can be a very fast way to reduce the pain and tension you get at the base of your skull. If your migraines have a trigger coming from neck tension or start at the base of the skull then dry needling is something to try.

Benefits of dry needling

The most common benefit is related to reduced muscle tension and pain. Circulation or blood flow also improves in the area that was dry needled. Strength to the muscle also improves and that can help with improving your ability to exercise.

What are the limitations of dry needling?

Dry needling only seems to work where you stick the filament. It does not address the underlying cause of why the knot is there in the first place. A treatment regimen should include manual medicine evaluation and possibly treatment.

Treat the cause, not just the symptoms.

Dry needling is the most effective way to safely remove knots and restore painful muscles.

You can discover for yourself for 39.00.

Can I exercise after treatment?

Exercise and movement after dry needling is better than resting the area. Heat or ice can be helpful but continued movement is usually the best.

For more information about what to do following dry needling check out this link.

Our team of professionals would love to answer any questions you may have. Contact us if you would like to try dry needling for 39.00 dollars or if you would like more information. 719-596-5000

For more information on what Cornerstone has to offer check this link out. 

Want a list of practitioners to compare pricing and experience? Here are a few that we would let stick a needle in us! (And they have!)

Ed Belding PT

Jeremy Snyder PT