Dry Needling

What is Dry Needling?

Dry Needling is used to treat Myofascial Trigger Points.

• Myo = Muscle
• Fascial = attachments and covering of muscle tissue
• Trigger Points = tight areas or knots in muscles.

Dr. Lynn Butler likens the Myofascial Trigger Point, the spot Dry Needling targets, to a traffic jam, an area of congestion. Traffic can’t get in or out well, and it becomes dysfunctional. Your muscle cells are alive. They need oxygen in and carbon dioxide out. They need food in and metabolic byproducts, like lactic acid, out. This dysfunction creates a very unhappy environment that makes you pay the price. The result can be spasm, cramping, chronically tight muscles that are often painful, reduced flexibility and range of motion, poor posture and abnormal movement patterns. Some patients describe the feeling as a tightness that they can’t rub out or stretch away. Myofascial Trigger Points may or may not be painful on their own but usually become sore when touched. They often refer pain to another part of the body.

Dry Needling at our office is done with sterile, very thin, single-use solid stainless steel needles. The needles are gently inserted into the affected muscle tissue where the Myofascial Trigger Point is located. The needle acts to physically disrupt the tension and pressure within the involved tissue. In a sense, it unlocks the tissue, and encourages it to return to a more normal state and improved level of function.

The needles we use are like those used in acupuncture, but Dry Needling is NOT acupuncture. It is called “dry” vs wet needling because nothing is injected into the tissue and nothing is drawn out.

Missoula Dry Needling | (406) 728-5114