Sports & Spinal Albury Wodonga has Osteopath’s who regularly use dry needling. Our therapists have completed additional training to ensure we are providing clients with dry needling, aimed solely at getting our client the best treatment outcomes whilst providing relief in the safest possible way, as taught by industry experts.
Dry needling can be effective in the treatment of a variety of conditions. Muscle spasm is often a significant contributing factor to pain and dysfunction experienced by patients, so by eliciting a response by the nervous system, dry needling can aid in pain management and recovery.
Our Osteopaths can identify important types of dysfunction in your body and provide individual management & treatment plans.
When performed by an experienced practitioner, dry needling may have numerous health benefits including:
- Relaxing taut bands of muscle fibres (myofascial trigger points)
- Decreasing pain and reliance on pain medications
- Improving muscle function and performance
- Improving joint range and flexibility
Common conditions that can benefit from dry needling include, but are not limited to; neck, upper and lower back pain, shoulder and arm pain (rotator cuff, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel, golfer’s elbow), headaches (including migraines and tension-type headaches), and hip, buttock and leg pain (sciatica, quadriceps and hamstrings strains, calf tightness/spasms).
Although it may sound scary, dry needling is relatively pain free! Most patients do not feel the needles while they are in and some barely even feel them being inserted (in many cases, patients will report that deep tissue massage is far worse in terms of pain than dry needling). Dry needling may elicit a local twitch response in the muscle which may result in a very brief painful response; some patients describe this as a little electric shock while others describe it as more of a cramping sensation. There is a therapeutic response that occurs with the production of these local twitch responses and they are considered a beneficial and desirable reaction.
There are many similarities and differences between dry needling and acupuncture. Therapists at Sports & Spinal Albury are not acupuncturists and do not practice acupuncture.
Dry needling is based on western medicine principles and research and is increasingly used in the management of musculoskeletal and sports injuries.
Acupuncture in contrast, is the needling of points on meridians in the body to boost, harmonise and remove blockages in the flow of energy (qi) throughout the body.
What to expect in your consult?
Your initial consultation will involve a comprehensive assessment where we ascertain your relevant past history, including previous injuries and medical history, followed by a physical exam to determine not only the diagnosis but also find the root cause of your problem. This will be discussed with you and a treatment plan will be formulated to accommodate your needs.
The treatment itself will vary from individual to individual, but will often include a combination of hands on therapies, dry needling, taping, advice, exercise prescription as well as other options.
FAQ's
Osteopaths are covered by most Private Health insurance schemes. To be sure you are covered please consult your insurance policy. We have HICAPs facilities available for those with Private Health so you can automatically claim your treatment and only have to pay the gap.
No referral is necessary to come to our clinic.
Osteopaths like to be thorough and hence our consults tend to take half an hour on average.
It is advised that you arrive between 5 and 10 minutes prior to your initial consult as you are required to fill out a new patient and informed consent forms before treatment can commence.