How Dry Needling Helped a High School Football Player

Dry needling is another manual therapy technique that is used in physical therapy to help with a variety of myofascial pain diagnoses. It is a technique that involves a thin-filament needle that goes into the trigger-point or a taut band of muscle fibers that usually causes pain, limits flexibility and motion. The needle elicits a local twitch response that helps to release the taut band and helps to decrease pain.

Amanda’s patient was a 15-year-old football player that pulled his hip flexor running and sprinting at practice. His muscles were already tight and as he increased his running his hip flexors reacted and resulted in a strain.  He had pain walking for a few days after the injury so he came into PT and after a thorough evaluation it was determined he was a candidate for dry needling. Amanda needled his rectus femoris, tensor fascia latae and vastus lateralis in 3 different sessions. In addition to dry needling and other soft tissue manual techniques he was prescribed exercises for flexibility and strength in his hip that probably led to the initial problem.  He had a great result with dry needling and was able to return to football within 2 weeks!

Dry needling is a great way to get people back to their prior level of function quicker, however it is not be used by itself.  Dry needling works best with other soft tissue techniques and corrective exercises to prevent the original problem from re-occurring. Weak muscles can always become tight and chronic tightness can lead to a pulled or strained muscle if it is over stressed.  If you are a candidate for dry needling our goal is to not only help decrease your pain faster but emphasize the importance of continuing to perform the corrective exercises for prevention of further injury.

On a side note, not everyone is a candidate for dry needling.  Every injury and pain is different and it is our duty to determine what best program fits you to reach your goals. You may not be a candidate for dry needling which is okay! Our team of professionals utilizes multiple techniques and exercises. Our multi-modal approach works best to reach your individualized goals!

Call us for a free consult to see if dry needling may work for you! 401-329-0050 or 401-384-6490