Man has become quite ingenious when it comes to finding different cures for the human body, but not ideas survive the testament of time. Native Americans discovered that using porcupine quills inserted into the body achieved healing effects. Although it conjures up crude and painful visions of a human pincushion, today’s version is quite different. Dry Needling has become the new fad on the block with mostly physical therapists, chiropractors, and of course acupuncturists utilizing this technique and is achieving unprecedented results across the board of human ailments.
As a Denver chiropractor, I recently went through the certification process to Dry Needle so I could achieve these same results with my patients. I was very surprised how effective the needling technique was with my own issues. I had developed a semi sort of a bum shoulder, a tendonitis that developed from holding my young kids for hours on end. My shoulder didn’t want to work quite right, it would make noise, cause pain with certain movements, and worst of all, gave me a shuddering feeling of vulnerability.
I had been suffering my condition for several months, and like most doctors, you don’t address it, because you’re to busy fixing other peoples issues. I was worried about the shoulder terribly, in due part because as a chiropractor you heavily rely on good working shoulder. When it came time in our class to discuss and practice the techniques for the shoulder, I eagerly volunteered myself as the demo.
With Dry Needling, you always do a before and after check of the region that is causing your problems. We utilized the SFMA (Selective Functional Movement Assessment) and had found decreased internal rotation that also caused pain with my left shoulder. The instructor then palpated the area and had found some very nasty trigger points in my anterior deltoid, infraspinatus, and teres minor muscles.
The needling was quick and concise, and also consisted of utilizing an electrotherapy machine on the needles to help reset the normal resting muscle tone from its prior hypertonic state. After the procedure, we rechecked the shoulder with the SFMA and had found increased range of motion, and an improvement in pain quality.
The shoulder wasn’t completely fixed at that time, but it sure did feel much better. I thought that I may needed more treatment in the coming days to help completely rid the problem, but low and behold the issue cleared itself within the week.
I’m excited to offer this new technique at Denver Chiropractic, LLC and will be posting more about the technique soon. Please visit our website to learn more about the services that we offer, and the Dry Needling in Denver. You can also learn more about Dry Needling at the wikipedi page.
Dr. Trent Artichoker
Denver Chiropractic, LLC
3890 Federal Blvd Unit 1
Denver, CO 80211
303-455-2225