Dry Needling: How Does It Work?

Learn about muscle knots and how your acupuncturist can help relieve your pain with this therapy!

If you've ever woken up with a stiff neck or crushing low back pain, you know what it feels like to want effective, fast-acting pain relief. “Dry needling” (also called “ashi needling” in Chinese medicine) is an effective technique that is gaining popularity these days. Many people who experience pain relief after dry needling wonder, "how does it work"? Read on to learn more!

First Off, What Types of Pain Can Dry Needling Help With?

Dry Needling can treat all kinds of musculoskeletal pain including, but not limited to:

neck pain
shoulder pain
low back pain
sciatica
knee pain
hip pain
jaw pain and TMJ
headaches and migraine

Let's Dive Into Dry Needling: How Does It Work?

Dry Needling: How Does It Work? Picture of wood grain with knot in center — Photo by Freepik

Think of your muscles like wood grain. A knot in a muscle is a tight, dense, hard spot, just like a knot in a piece of wood. Muscles rely on good blood flow in order to stay soft, flexible, and pain free. But when the blood hits a knot in a muscle it can’t get into that tight space very well. The knot can get more tight and stuck as months or years go by since it is being starved of blood, oxygen, and nourishment.

An acupuncturist who uses dry needling technique will use needles to poke tiny holes into the knot. This lets the blood back in so the muscles can be soft again. With good blood flow restored, your muscles can stretch and stop pulling on your bones, thus relieving pain.

Do the Needles Go Directly Into Painful Areas?

Your acupuncturist might put needles directly into the spot where you’re feeling the pain. They’ll also probably find spots further away from the pain. This is because muscles pull together in chains.

If there is a kink in the middle of the chain, it can pull on both ends. For example, low back pain and/or knee pain can likely be caused by tight thigh or butt muscles. Those are the biggest muscles we have in our bodies, so they have a lot of pulling power. Unless you experienced a past injury to these areas, there could be nothing wrong with your actual lumbar spine or with your knee joint. Instead, they are just the unfortunate kinks in the chain getting yanked out of place by the larger, tight, knotted muscles down the line.

How Soon After Dry Needling Will I Feel Better?

You should expect to feel relief right away. However, the goal is to solve the pain for good. Most people come once a week for at least a few weeks in a row, depending on the nature of the injury. Once the pain is solved, many people don’t need to keep coming back. Some people may need to come in for occasional “maintenance” acupuncture if work, hobbies, or bad posture habits are causing the same strain over and over again.

Ready to Book a Treatment?

If you're local to the greater New Orleans, LA area, we'd be happy to introduce you to your first (or 50th!) dry needling session! Our clinic is located in downtown New Orleans. Check out our availability and schedule your first treatment here.

Schedule a Dry Needling Session with Sarah

Next On Your Reading List:

Disclaimer

Our website and related materials are provided for educational and informational use only and are not health advice. As a user of this site, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless our website and company for any direct or indirect loss or conduct incurred as a result of your use of our website. If you have a medical question, you should consult your own medical doctor.