Trigger Point Dry Needling – New Orleans
Trigger Point Dry-Needling and Physical Therapy: A Personal Recovery Story , by Taryn Cohn, MSPT, OCS
I have been a practicing physical therapist for ten years. I became a certified orthopedic manual therapist through the Ola Grimsby Institute 7 years ago and have taken multiple continuing education courses in manual therapy. I have found that most all of the knowledge I have gained throughout the years is valuable and can be applied in one way or another based on the individual and the injury. So when the opportunity came up to take a continuing education course in trigger point dry-needling I jumped at the opportunity. What started out as educational growth opportunity, ended up having a much larger personal impact.
I would consider myself a frequent, perhaps avid exerciser. Ever since childhood I have always enjoyed a wide range of physical activity. It is this passion for movement that initially brought me to physical therapy as a career. However, almost 2 years ago I became sidelined for 8 months with a lumbar disc herniation. Through exercise and the hands-on physical therapy intervention of my co-workers I was able to overcome the injury without needing medical or surgical intervention.
It was in the midst of my recovery that I went to Colorado to learn about trigger point dry-needling. If you are unfamiliar with trigger point dry needling (TDN), or intramuscular therapy, it is a treatment for muscular tightness and spasm, which commonly follows injuries, degenerative processes, stress and muscular overuse. This treatment technique uses small, thin needles inserted directly into hyperirritable areas of taut skeletal muscle referred to as trigger points. When the needle hits the correct spot it causes a twitch response in the muscle, resulting in muscle lengthening and relaxation.
A requirement of the course when learning the dry-needling technique is that you practice on fellow course participants. After my treatment partner completed the trigger-point dry-needling on my low back and hips I experienced some of the most significant relief of painful symptoms I had felt in almost a year. As with most treatment techniques, I am hesitant to use it with patients unless I have experienced some personal benefits. After the initial and continued symptom reduction I have received as a result of dry-needling, I would encourage anyone to try it who has been unsuccessful with other treatments.
Since the addition of dry-needling to my existing manual therapy practice, I have seen excellent results in those suffering from low back pain, hip pain, shoulder pain, plantar fasciitis and neck pain, to name a few.
Call us to see if trigger Point Dry Needling would be helpful to you.