4 ways that dry needling may improve shoulder function

Do you have shoulder pain that’s preventing you from having full range of motion in your arm? Dry needling may be the solution you’re looking for. Dry needling uses thin, hollow needles that directly target trigger points in the affected tissue to bring relief. This technique causes the muscle to spasm and release tension, which can help decrease pain and improve the shoulder’s function. Unlike injections, dry needling doesn’t put fluid or anything else into the body. The needle is what provides the release of the trigger points.

Dry needling is often used to treat pain and reduced range of motion in muscles and other tissue. If you have tension or tight trigger points in your shoulder, dry needling can be an effective option. Let’s walk through how dry needling can increase shoulder functioning and the different kinds of dry needling your physical therapist may suggest.

How dry needling can improve shoulder function

Your shoulder has three key muscles that are generally connected with pain and stiffness: 

• The anterior deltoid
• The infraspinatus
• The subscapularis muscles

Dry needling can help target these specific muscles to help release tension, pain and soreness within them. If you’re wondering whether dry needling can help with your condition, here are a few specific things that dry needling can do to help improve your shoulder function: 

• Stimulate blood flow — Dry needling can cause dilation in the small blood vessels around the entry point of the needle, which can help stimulate blood flow and oxygenation to the affected area. 
• Reduce muscle tension — By inserting a dry needle into the trigger point, the muscles are forced to tense and relax, resulting in reduced tension and increased mobility.
• Decrease pain — Dry needling can stimulate the release of endorphins, which is the body’s way of naturally decreasing pain. By resolving trigger points and tight muscles, dry needling can also contribute to the decrease of pain in the long term.
• Reduce inflammation and swelling — By increasing blood flow to the affected area, dry needling may also help reduce inflammation and swelling. More blood flow can speed up healing and decrease the body’s inflammatory response.

Dry needling is a treatment method that can target precise areas of pain and inflammation to help you feel immediate relief. It can also contribute to long-term healing and stimulate the body’s natural healing response.

Types of dry needling for shoulder pain

There are multiple kinds of dry needling, and depending on your injury, you may need a specific type of treatment. Here are three different types of dry needling that your physical therapist may suggest:

• Trigger point dry needling — Trigger points are highly sensitive areas in the muscle that can cause referred pain. This means that the pain you’re feeling in one area may be coming from another source. With trigger point dry needling, your physical therapist can target the trigger point that’s causing that referred pain. This method targets the trigger point directly to stimulate the affected muscle.
• Deep dry needling — If the source of your shoulder pain is coming from your spine, your physical therapist may recommend deep dry needling. This type of dry needling involves longer than average needles that can more easily reach the areas that are causing your pain and tension.
• Superficial dry needling — Unlike deep dry needling, superficial dry needling focuses on much shallower areas under the skin. Its target is usually trigger points in the myofascial tissue, which connects the bones, muscles and joints near the surface of the skin. A dry needle is inserted just under the skin and stops before reaching the actual muscle. This can cause it to reflex without needing to go deeper.

Dry needling can be a helpful treatment method in many cases of shoulder pain. However, sometimes shoulder pain doesn’t come from tense or compressed muscles. Conditions such as bursitis or slipped discs can affect the joints or bones in the shoulder rather than soft tissue. Because of this, they aren’t affected by dry needling, so they may require a different treatment.

Dry needling may sound scary, but it can be a remarkably effective method for muscle-related conditions. If you’re experiencing significant shoulder pain due to muscular issues and haven’t seen success with traditional physical therapy methods, dry needling may be right for you.

Our team at REPAIR SI is highly trained in dry needling and other methods that can directly relieve pain in your shoulder. If you’re ready to take control of your shoulder pain, contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.