Dry needling, also known as trigger point therapy or intramuscular therapy.

Dry needling is used for pain and movement impairments caused by trigger points within the muscle and fascia. A trigger point is a taut band of muscle which is tender and when touched pain can refer to other areas of the body. Dry needling involves a thin filiform needle that penetrates the skin and stimulates myofascial trigger points and muscular connective tissues.

The needles allow me to target tissues that are not manually palpable.

Dry Needling can cause a local twitch response.

A Local Twitch response is a visible and often palpable muscle contraction after a mechanical stimulation, most commonly after dry needling or during massage. A local twitch response is an involuntary quick twitch of the muscle that is caused by a spinal reflex. If you have ever had Dry Needling before, it is the quick and sometimes uncomfortable "reset" within the muscle belly. The pistoning method is a quick "in and out" of the needle within a taut band of muscle until a local twitch response is elicited.

Once a local twitch response occurs it causes a decrease in the neurological activity of the nerve at a possible trigger point.