Two topics that have been talked about a lot in the past couple years are Covid-19 (no surprise there!) and a physical therapy treatment called Dry Needling. If you’ve never heard of it, Dry Needling is a technique that involves inserting a thin needle into a tender or painful spot within a muscle (termed myofascial trigger points or just trigger points) to help reduce pain and stiffness and improve function.

A case study was recently published detailing the treatment of a patient who got COVID-19 then developed significant pain all over his body and fatigue. He was diagnosed with Long Covid Syndrome ( You may have heard this called “Long-Haul Covid” as well) and his symptoms were so severe he even reported that it hurt to open a bottle of water! The patient’s provider treated him first with trigger point injections which helped temporarily, but the pain returned. The patient’s Physical Therapist then treated him with 3 sessions of Dry Needling (they reported needling 10 trigger points in a session during each of the 3 treatment sessions). The dry needling treatments relieved the patient’s pain and he was able to return to work and his regular activities. 

You may be thinking to yourself, how did putting needles in this person’s body help with Long-Haul Covid related pain? Well, one explanation is due to the “Energy Crisis” that occurs with muscle dysfunction and trigger points. The idea is that trigger points are sites of bundled up or “knotted up” muscle that cannot relax – the muscle is contracting all the time and accumulates excessive chemicals which cause it to knot up even more and that causes pain. Now contracting a muscle requires energy (from ATP stored within muscle in the form of glycogen without getting too specific) and a person only has a finite amount of energy available to them. So, if these muscles are using up all that energy, you will naturally start to have pain, but also will start to have whole body fatigue, “Brain fog” and difficulty concentrating, and will in return start experiencing limitations with one’s normal daily activities. Dry needling has been shown in scientific literature to immediately get rid of these knots along with some of the chemicals accumulated near them which are the cause of the pain and dysfunction within a muscle. From my first hand experience as a provider who incorporates dry needling into my practice, I have seen the tremendous effect this treatment technique has had on this kind of pain. I have worked with people that have had years of pain or numbness and tingling that went away after one single dry needling session!

Do you or someone you know struggle with Chronic pain or post-COVID related pain, fatigue and disability? We offer Dry needling sessions without need for a referral! Schedule your appointment today! – 505-207-2344

PROVIDERS: Register now to join us June 4th and 5th. (click link below for more info)

Functional Dry Needling® Level 2