Acupuncture for muscle pain

Muscle pain (aka myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS) is a very common condition and most people develop these at some stage in their lives. This can affect any muscle in the body and is usually short-lived. However, in some cases, it can cause chronic pain, limitation of movements, and most trigger points (muscle knots) have definite referral patterns.

These trigger points respond well to a technique referred to as ‘Dry Needling’ where thin fine acupuncture needles are used to release these muscle knots with dramatic improvements. Dry needling aims to treat muscle pain (myofascial pain) as well as tendon disorders (tendonitis) and some joint pain conditions.

Needling the muscle trigger points (muscle bundle contractions) releases the knots in the muscle (trigger points) and stimulates the local nervous system feedback loop. This can give instant pain relief and also improves muscle functionality. It also increases blood supply to the area and helps promote healing. There is also recent evidence that dry needling areas of longstanding pain may play a role in re-calibrating the patients’ perception of pain i.e., increase the trigger required before pain is perceived in the brain.

Dry needling combined with electro-acupuncture is very effective for treating long-standing pain around the neck and lower back as well as shoulder and tendon conditions. Often the effects are immediate and can make a dramatic difference.