Feb. 8, 2018 – Dry needling is an effective therapy used to manage
pain, elongate and relax muscles and connective tissue, thereby increasing
flexibility and mobility. It is a skilled intervention now being offered
in conjunction with other physical therapy treatments at the Southeast
Georgia Health System
Outpatient Rehabilitation Care Center in Brunswick.
Kesha King, P.T., DPT, CERT DN, physical therapist, has been dry needling
since 2015, and is a certified practitioner. After seeing first-hand the
results and benefits patients experience from dry needling, King pursued
certification as a promising adjunct to her physical therapy skill set.
She explains, “Dry needling is a process that can help make patients
feel better faster. Prescribed as part of the overall physical therapy
plan of care, dry needling is a more proficient process that decreases
the amount of time it takes to get a patient to achieve maximum therapeutic
potential.”
Dry needling uses disposable, thin filiform needles to penetrate the skin
and stimulate trigger points of muscular shortness and tightness, and
connective tissues, to manage neuromuscular pain and movement impairments.
By passing the needle through the barrier of the skin and into the muscle
or connective tissue, the physical therapist can use the needle to manipulate
the tissue to help lengthen it and achieve a more relaxed state. Dry needling
can also be integrated with electrical stimulation to further enhance
its effectiveness.
According to King, a typical treatment takes 20-30 minutes, but she stresses
there is not a “standard treatment” protocol. “Each
dry needling treatment session is patient-centered and personalized to
the individual patient’s response,” she explains. “Before
beginning dry needling, it is important for patients to trust and fully
understand how the technique can benefit them.”
Common conditions for which dry needling might be prescribed include fibromyalgia
due to an over stimulation of nerves, pain due to injury or trauma, back
pain, as well as chronic or acute conditions such as tennis or golfer’s
elbow and achilles tendonitis. The technique can be applied to most parts
of the body, from face to pelvic floor. As part of her training and certification,
King has experienced dry needling herself, noting, “Everything I’m
doing to a patient I have had done to myself.”