Dry Needling

Dry Needling
Physical Therapy | 22 Jan 2025
Whether recovering from surgery, overcoming a fitness or sports injury, or returning to a daily routine, people face a unique set of challenges during the rehabilitation process. At The Training Room, we understand those challenges, and our approach to physical therapy ensures you get back to doing what you love—stronger and healthier than before. One of the innovative tools we use to accelerate recovery is dry needling, a treatment gaining popularity for its ability to decrease pain, enhance mobility, and promote healing.

What Is Dry Needling?

Dry needling is a minimally invasive technique that uses thin, sterile needles to target trigger points—tight, painful knots in muscles that can restrict movement and cause discomfort. This technique can be applied throughout the body to address issues such as chronic pain, sports injuries, or post-surgical limitations. Unlike acupuncture, which is rooted in traditional Chinese medicine, this approach is based on modern anatomical and neurophysiological principles, focusing on muscle location, activation, and function.

After conducting a thorough assessment to identify trigger points, the therapist inserts needles into the affected area to release muscle tension, enhance blood flow, and stimulate the body’s natural healing response. This technique can be performed alone or combined with electrical stimulation, where small electrodes are attached to the needles to induce muscle contractions. The result is decreased pain, improved soft tissue mobility, and accelerated healing.


The technique can be used throughout the body to treat issues such as
chronic pain,
sport injuries, or post-surgical limitations.

How Dry Needling Fits into Post-Surgical Recovery

Rehabilitation is a crucial part of recovering from surgery. This is a delicate process that requires balancing both rest and activity. Trigger point therapy can play a pivotal role in post-surgical recovery by:
  • Reducing Pain
    Post-surgical pain is a common occurrence after surgery. Targeted needling helps alleviate pain by reducing tension in muscles surrounding the surgical site.
  • Enhancing Mobility
    Stiffness and scar tissue build up are common after any surgery. Therapeutic needling promotes better mobility by decreasing tissue tension and allowing increased range of motion, making other therapy exercises more effective.
  • Accelerating Healing
    Targeted needling stimulates blood flow into the specific muscle, and the improved circulation from therapeutic needling can aid in faster tissue repair, helping people to heal and regain their strength quicker.

Addressing Overuse, Fitness, and Sports Injuries

Whether you’re dealing with a sprain, strain, or overuse injury, fitness injuries, overuse injuries, and sports injuries can keep you from doing what you love. Dry needling is particularly effective for those with:
  • Muscle Strains
    A muscle strain is a pulled, or overly stretched muscle. Releasing trigger points in strained muscles reduces pain and prevents compensatory movements that could lead to further injury.

  • Tendinopathies
    A tendinopathy is an irritation of a muscle tendon, such as Achilles tendinopathy. Therapeutic needling can stimulate blood flow into specific muscles and help reduce tension in surrounding muscles, alleviating pressure on injured tendons and helping to jumpstart the healing process within the tendon.
  • Overuse Injuries
    For issues like runner’s knee or tennis elbow, Intramuscular stimulation (IMS) targets areas of chronic tightness to restore muscle balance and function.
By incorporating dry needling into your physical therapy plan, we address not just the symptoms but also the root cause of your injury, ensuring long-term recovery.
Dry Needling

Why People Benefit from Dry Needling

People often push their bodies to the limit, and this can lead to recurring pain, overuse injuries, or limited mobility. Targeted needling is an excellent addition to general physical therapy because it:
  • Improves Muscle Function
    By releasing tension in overworked or injured muscles and increasing blood flow, people can perform better during therapy, daily tasks, and recreational activities.

  • Prevents Reinjury
    Without proper recovery treatment, people are often susceptible to reinjury. Improving strength, muscle coordination, and mobility reduces the risk of reinjury, helping people recover and stay healthy.

  • Enhances Recovery
    Faster recovery times mean people are more prepared and can return to their daily routine and recreational activities more quickly and confidently.
Our team at The Training Room tailors every rehabilitation plan to each person’s needs, combining cutting-edge treatments like dry needling with strength training, mobility work, and recovery techniques.

Your Partner in Recovery and Performance

At The Training Room, we’re committed to providing comprehensive care that bridges the gap between physical therapy and fitness. Dry needling is just one of the many tools we use to help you recover from injuries, surgeries, and chronic pain. If you’re looking for a rehabilitation plan that prioritizes your goals, trust our experienced team to choose the right tools for you and guide you every step of the way.

Ready to start your recovery journey? Contact us today and take the first step toward getting back to your best.

About the Author

Dr. Jamie Greenberg

DPT
Dr. Jamie specializes in working with various orthopedic injuries from sport related injuries to chronic pain to post operative recovery. She also has experience working as a physical therapist for performers, crew members, and musicians in the performing arts at the Saenger Theater in New Orleans, LA. Dr. Jamie received her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from Texas Christian University in 2017 and received her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in 2020. After living in Texas for nearly a decade, she has finally returned home to New Orleans and has been a member of The Training Room team since 2022.