A Physiotherapist from our Winnipeg physiotherapy clinic may choose acupuncture and dry needling as a part of your treatment plan. Acupuncture and dry needling treatment is administered to reduce muscle pain and swelling, as well as, stimulate the healing process. The single-use, sterile acupuncture needles are very thin and placed at specific trigger points designed to stimulate certain areas (nerve, muscle, joint, tendon, etc.).
Acupuncture FAQs
Acupuncture is typically prescribed for acute or chronic pain, muscle spasms or discomfort, pain and headaches. The needles may be stimulated by hand or electrical stimulation depending on the patient preference or the therapist’s prescription.
Does Acupuncture hurt?
The penetration of each needle can be compared to a pinprick, a mosquito bite or no sensation at all. The dull ache felt with needle manipulation is called “ chi”. Chi is the energy flow between acupuncture trigger points following the meridians (energy pathways throughout the body). The rest of the acupuncture experience is nearly painless.
How does Acupuncture work?
Acupuncture works by stimulating the Nervous System at specific trigger points in larger muscle groups to release its natural pain relievers called endorphins, as well as, anti-inflammatory chemicals to reduce swelling and promote healing.
What are the contraindications of Acupuncture?
- Pregnancy
- Bleeding Disorders
- Seizure Disorders
- Skin Infections/Diseases
- < 6 months Post-Operative
Is Acupuncture an extra fee?
There is no extra fee for Acupuncture. It is simply a part of your Physiotherapy treatment cost. Please do allow for 20 extra minutes in the clinic, however, to get the maximum benefit from your both Acupuncture and Dry Needling experience.
Dry Needling FAQs
Also known as Intramuscular Dry Needling, it is an Acupuncture technique designed to treat Myofascial pain. Single-use sterile needles are inserted into specific areas to target muscle adhesions and/or underlying myofascial trigger points. A trigger point is a band of skeletal muscle tissue located with larger muscle groups. These are often tender and refer pain to much further areas within the body.
Is Dry Needling painful?
Dry Needling is marginally more painful than traditional acupuncture. The single-use sterile needles used for dry needling are slightly thicker for structural integrity. The conditions chosen to treat in this way tend to be more so of the chronic type, thus these areas may tend to be mildly more hypersensitive to stimuli.
Penetration of a normal and healthy muscle is painless. An irritated muscle will sometimes grasp the needle being inserted, thus resulting in minor pain, however, is followed by a feeling of relaxation as the larger muscle group eases. However, dry needling no longer requires the needles to stay in once the local twitch response is triggered at the trigger point. This makes the treatment of each muscle very quick.
What are the benefits of Dry Needling?
Dry Needling causes relaxation of muscle spasms, debriding of scar tissue or muscle adhesions, as well as, pain reduction by stimulating the body’s natural pain relievers called endorphins and the natural anti-inflammatory chemicals from our Nervous system to reduce swelling and muscle pain as a result of Dry Needling.
When would Dry Needling be implemented into my treatment plan?
Dry Needling could be administered with your consent for chronic muscle pain or spasms, chronic pain not responsive to other treatment techniques, the release of adhesions, and increasing joint mobility and/ or muscle flexibility. Ie. Tennis elbow, rotator cuff tendonitis, frozen shoulder, chronic low back pain, and many more.
