Needle therapy
The use of needles in therapy originated in Chinese medicine.
Acupuncture has been used worldwide for more than 5,000 years. Dry needling differs from acupuncture primarily in methodology, as we do not use concepts such as chakra or meridian here. During dry needling, we insert the needle into the muscles and fascial tissue, at their sticking points or trigger points.
How does needle therapy work?
There are two theories about the effect of needles on the body. One speaks of trigger points that we can deactivate by inserting a needle there. The other theory is that diseased tissues exhibit piezoelectric tension, which we discharge through needles. The advantage of the needle over our hand is that we insert at the right depth and in the right place, causing an effect strictly on the area affected by the pathology – we do not act indirectly through the tissues above.
How does such therapy proceed and is it painful?
Most often, several needles are inserted during a single visit. We don’t always work only on the site of pain, so don’t be surprised that sometimes the therapy goes to points far away from our problem. This is because pain is often created by our body’s compensation and adaptation, and working on a painful spot will only help for a while.
Needle therapy does not hurt more than other methods. The insertion itself can be compared to a mosquito bite. Sometimes there is pain, but it is related to the injury we are trying to treat. The inserted needle remains in the body for several to several minutes. Small bruises may appear after the procedure.
What are the indications and contraindications for this method?
There are not many contraindications. These include skin lesions, inflammation of the skin or taking anticoagulants, etc.
Indications for needle therapy:
- Tendinopathies such as tennis elbow or golfer's elbow,
- Achilles tendinopathy,
- Painful shoulder syndrome or frozen shoulder,
- Carpal tunnel syndrome,
- Back pain,
- Post-torsion conditions,
- shin splints,
- scars.
