Dry needling uses thin, sterile, single-use filaments placed directly into a taut, irritable band of muscle known as a trigger point. The word dry is doing real work in that name: nothing is injected. No medication, no steroid, no anesthetic. The filament itself is the entire treatment.
A trigger point is a patch of muscle fibers stuck in a shortened, contracted state. It does not relax on its own, it hurts when pressed, and it often refers pain somewhere else entirely — which is why a knot near your shoulder blade can produce a headache behind your eye.
When the filament reaches that band, the muscle often produces a local twitch response, a brief involuntary flicker. That twitch is the mechanism, not a side effect: it interrupts the stuck contraction, restores blood flow to tissue that was strangling itself, and changes how the nervous system reads the area.
Same instrument, different medicine. Acupuncture is a complete system with its own diagnostic framework. Dry needling comes out of Western musculoskeletal examination — we palpate for a specific dysfunctional muscle and treat that muscle. We offer both, and they answer different questions.
Most people report a dull pressure or cramping rather than sharp pain. Afterward, expect soreness similar to a hard workout, usually gone within a day or two. Water, gentle movement and light stretching shorten it.
Neck and upper back tension, tension-type headaches, shoulder and rotator cuff irritation, low back tightness, hip and glute pain, tennis and golfer’s elbow, plantar fasciitis, and calf and hamstring strains.
Certain bleeding disorders, blood thinners, pregnancy and needle phobia are worth raising first. Read our full guide to dry needling, or book an appointment.