Dry Needling Essay

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Myofascial pain syndrome is a common health problem that affects around 85% of the general population at some point in their lifetime and has a prevalence of around 46% (Jafri, 2014). The symptoms of this health issue can be fairly intrusive in an individual’s everyday life, as they have the potential to cause impairments in mobility, pain, and detrimental psychological effects associated with a decreased sense of well-being (Jafri, 2014). While there are many theories and recommendations in regards to treatment options for myofascial-related pain, one of the most increasingly popular treatment methods is an alternative form of medicine known as dry needling. Similar to acupuncture, dry needling is most commonly performed by physical therapists who have had extensive training and
Fourteen patients experiencing bilateral shoulder pain were used for the study. After dry needling was performed on the individuals’ myofascial trigger points, range of motion as well as pain threshold on their affected shoulders was increased dramatically. Another study performed by Nashlund and colleagues (Kalichman and Vulfsons, 2010) compared the results of superficial dry needling to the results of deep dry needling on patients with knee pain. Superficial dry needling involves the insertion of the needle into the tissue directly above the trigger point at a depth of around 2 millimeters, while deep dry needling requires that the needle be inserted intramuscularly at a depth of around 1.5 centimeters. In regards to short-term relief, no significant differences were seen between the two methods of treatment. Both groups showed dramatic decreases in pain. However, at around the 3-month mark post-treatment, the deep dry needling group showed greater analgesic effects than the superficial dry needling group (Kalichman and Vulfsons,

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