RHS dry needling treatment for muscle trigger points

CRESCO - Regional Health Services of Howard County now offers a new treatment for those experiencing muscular pain: Dry needling.

Jenn Kuehner, DPT and Director of Rehab Services and Alex Engelken, DPT and DN1 at Regional Health Services, say dry needling is a relatively new service offered in Northeast Iowa:

Kuehner said, “A new service we are offering here in Cresco. No one else offers it in the area, so we want to bring as many services as we can to Cresco, and offer it at our hospital.”

She continued, “It’s not common because of the certification process and the advanced level of education it requires, but we found there are patients and physicians asking for it, not just in our own health system but also between Mayo and Gundersen, so we thought it was of benefit to our community to be able dry needling without having to leave the area.”

Engelken said, “I’m the physical therapist certified in doing the dry needling technique. Dry needling is a treatment that trained physical therapists are able to use. It is an advanced skill so it requires some additional training outside an entry-level education. Dry needling can be used to treat a lot of different muscular-skeletal injuries. It uses a very thin, solid filament needle that is placed directly into a muscle trigger point. I trigger point is a hyperirritable, taut band or a knot within a muscle. The trigger points  can play a role in maintaining the pain cycle. They can also alter muscle performance by inhibiting muscle strength and refer pain and alter range of motion.”

It can be used for a wide variety of conditions; most common are chronic injuries overuse injuries or sports injuries. You can use dry needling to treat all different areas of the body; low back pain, neck pain, hip, knee or ankle pain, carpel tunnel, a whole host of things.

Engelken said, “Dry needling and acupuncture have similarities in that you are using the same tool; you are using a needle, but you are using it in different technique. Acupuncture is where they insert needles through the skin to strategic points with the goal to balance the flow of energy. The strategic points are along specific meridians. Dry needling is more of a treatment based on Western medicine and Western medicine theories. The needle is specifically inserted into a specific trigger point. Dry needling is a relatively short treatment.”

“Typically, you see positive results after cumulative treatments; it usually requires more than one or two treatments. Dry needling is just one treatment within the scope of one person’s rehab program. It’s often going to be paired with home exercise program and progressive exercises to work on the flexibility and strength that is also needed. Dry needling may not be the best fit for everyone, so if you’re having something going on causing you pain, I think it’s appropriate to have a talk with your physical therapist,” Engelken said.

For more information about dry needling or to set up an appointment, call Rehabilitation Department  at Regional Health Services: 563-547-6361, or visit Regional Health Services of Howard County’s website or Facebook page online.

According to literature provided by Regional Health Services of Howard County: 

 

What is dry needling?

‘Dry needling is a treatment procedure in which a very thin, sterile solid filament needle is inserted into the skin and muscle directly at the myofascial trigger point. A trigger point is a localized, hyper-irritable spot in a taut band or knot of muscle. The muscle trigger points play a role in producing and maintaining the pain cycle. Trigger points can alter muscle performance, alter a joint’s range of motion, as well as generate pain and referred pain (pain to other areas of the body).

 

Is dry needling the same as acupuncture?

“Licensed physical therapists in a growing number of states, including Iowa, can use dry needling under the scope of their practice. Physical therapists at Regional Health Services of Howard County are not licensed acupuncturists and do not practice acupuncture. Traditional Chinese medicine typically explains acupuncture as a technique where needles are inserted through skin at strategic points on the body. Acupuncture is a technique to balance the flow of energy *known as qui or chi) believed to flow through pathways (meridians) to re-balance your energy flow, and thus alleviate pain, stress, and tension. In contrast to most schools of acupuncture, dry needling is strictly based on Western medicine principles and research, where needles are inserted directly into specific trigger points of muscles. At Regional Health Services of Howard County, only therapists with specialty training and/or certification perform this technique.

 

How does dry needling work?

“The exact mechanisms of dry needling are still being researched. During dry needling, the goal is to create local twitch response, a spontaneous brisk contraction of the taut band, to stimulate and deactiviate the trigger point. Dry needling promotes healing at the area by promoting local inflammation and reducing the spontaneous muscle firing at the site of the trigger point. This allows the muscle to relax, enhances joint range of motion, restores strength, decreases pain, and ultimately improves function.

 

What types of problems can be treated with dry needling?

Dry needling can be used for a variety of musculoskeletal pain problems and can be a highly effective treatment for chronic muscle pain, overuse injuries, and repetitive sports injuries. Conditions that may benefit from dry needling include, but are not limited to, neck and back pain with and without radiculopathy, shoulder and arm pain (tennis elbow, carpel tunnel, shoulder impingement, joint restrictions, frozen shoulder), hip and leg pain (sciatica, piriformis syndrome, muscle strain, trochanteric bursitis, iliotibial band syndrome, patellar tendonitis), foot and ankle pain (ankle sprains, Achilles tendonitis, platar fasciitis, and chronic tension headaches).