Athletes get hurt—that's the risk they take. Bouncing back from injuries (and playing through them) is an important part of long-term athletic success, so finding which recovery methods work best should be a top priority. One interesting technique that's been taking off in popularity is Dry Needling.
TDN is an effective therapy to treat muscular tension and spasm which commonly accompanies conditions such as arthritis, nerve irritation, muscular strain, ligament strains and herniated discs.
The doctors at Doctor's Physical Therapy & Sports Institute utilize trigger point dry needling to release painful knots in tissues.
The American Physical Therapy Association defines dry needling as "a skilled intervention that uses a thin filiform needle to penetrate the skin and stimulate underlying myofascial trigger points, muscular, and connective tissues for the management of neuromusculoskeletal pain and movement impairments."
Translation? Long, thin needles are inserted through the skin and into the muscle in and/or around an inflamed area. It's called dry needling because the needle isn't used to inject anything into the body, as is the case with a hypodermic needle.
