What is Dry Needling?
Dry Needling is a form of therapy in which fine needles are inserted into myofascial trigger points (painful knots in muscles), tendons, ligaments, or near nerves in order to stimulate a healing response in painful musculoskeletal conditions. In fact, dry needling is a modern, science-based intervention for the treatment of pain and dysfunction musculoskeletal conditions such as neck pain, shoulder impingement, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, headaches, knee pain, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, or low-back pain.
Is Dry Needling Safe?
Drowsiness, tiredness or dizziness occurs after treatment in small number of patients (1-3%) and if affected, you are advised not to drive. Minor bleeding or bruising occurs after dry needling in 15-20% of treatments and is considered normal. Temporary pain during dry needling occurs in 60-70% of treatments. Existing symptoms can get worse after treatment (less than 3% of patients); however, that is not necessarily a “bad” sign. Fainting can occur in certain patients (0.3%), particularly at the first treatment session when needling the head or neck regions. Dry needling is very safe; however, serious side effects can occur on less than 1 per 10,000 (less than 0.01%), of treatments. The most common serious side effect from dry needling is pneumothorax (lung collapse due to air inside the chest wall). The symptoms of dry needling-induced pneumothorax commonly do not occur until after the treatment session, sometimes taking several hours to develop. The signs and symptoms of a pneumothorax may include shortness of breath on exertion, increased breathing rate, chest pain, a dry cough, bluish discoloration of the skin, or excessive sweating. If such signs and/or symptoms occur, you should immediately contact your physical therapist or physician. Nerves or blood vessels may be damaged from dry needling which can result in pain, numbness or tingling; however, this is a very rare event and is usually temporary, Damage to internal organs has been reported in the medical literature following needling; however, these are extremely rare events (1in 200,000).
What Insurances are Accepted?
Please see the Patient Forms/ Information page for the list of insurances we accept. For the most up-to-date information about the insurances that we serve, please call our office and speak with our front office.
What is the Difference Between Dry Needling and Acupunture?
Dry Needling is a form of therapy in which fine needles are inserted into myofascial trigger points (painful knots in muscles), tendons, ligaments, or near nerves in order to stimulate a healing response in painful musculoskeletal conditions. Whereas Acupuncture or Oriental Medicine has the purpose of altering the flow of energy (“Qi”) along traditional Chinese meridians for the treatment of diseases.
Do I Need to Wear a Certain Type of Clothing to my Appointment?
To ensure comfort and a proper assessment during therapy, you should wear loose-fitting clothing. Comfortable clothes that allow plenty of room for movement are ideal for your first—and any subsequent—appointments. As for footwear, good supportive shoes—like athletic sneakers—are ideal. You also should try to wear the same shoes you normally would wear to workout or play sports. That way, you’ll get the most accurate assessment possible. Heels, sandals, or dress shoes are a no-no however you may want to bring the shoes you wear the most so the therapist can assess them as well.
Heading to your appointment from work? No problem. We will provide an area for you to change into your comfortable clothing.
The physical therapist will need visibility of the part of the body he or she is treating. For example, if you are coming in for treatment on the knee or leg, you’ll want to wear or bring shorts. We have shorts and gowns available should you require.
Do I Need to Bring Anything to My First Appointment? What Should I Expect?
What to bring:
We will require you to have your insurance card, drivers license or ID, your referral and your new patient paper work packet. Any imaging reports (X-rays, MRIs, etc.) related to the problem area we are treating is also very helpful.
What to expect:
Your first appointment is the initial evaluation and is a full appointment. You may be taught some stretches and/or exercises that will be part of your home program, so appropriate clothing and shoes are important!
How Long Will My Appointment Be?
Your first appointment will be between 45 to 60 minutes long. Your follow up appointments will be approximately 45 minutes.
Do I Need a Referal or Prescription for Physical Therapy? How do I Get One? Can I Get More Visits?
We require a referral from your doctor for EACH area we will be treating. Some insurances require authorization and additional forms, in which case your referral needs to be current at all visits. You can have your doctor's office fax over the referral or they may give you a hard copy that you will bring into the office with you on your first appointment.
Your primary care doctor will need to provide your referral - this referral can come from a licensed medical professional (MD, PA-C, FNP, etc), but in most cases cannot come from a chiropractor.
Additional therapy visits beyond your referral and authorization should be prescribed again by your physician.
I Have Been or am Currently being Treated for One Body Part, but Now Another Hurts. Do I need a new Referal for That?
Yes! You will need to contact your primary doctor to get a new referral for the new body part you wish to be treated, we cannot request a referral for a new treatment area.
