Natural Relief for Shoulder Pain with Dry Needling

Do you suffer from shoulder pain that makes it impossible to reach overhead, difficult to get dressed, or do simple things around the house? Whether you’ve been told you have a rotator cuff tear, bone-on-bone arthritis or even frozen shoulder, dry needling can be an effective and natural way to get relief from these often debilitating conditions. So, what is dry needling and how can it offer relief? 

Before we get to what dry needling is, we should first clear up what is usually going on with shoulder pain and what imaging often gets wrong. Did you know that up to 70% of people without shoulder pain have arthritis on imaging? Or that up to 89% of pain free people will have damage to their rotator cuff tendons. Up to 60% pain free shoulders will have bursitis as well. So, if we see all these changes in pain free people, could it be that these findings aren’t as important as what we once thought? In fact, if you have any changes to how your shoulder feels(meaning some days/times it is better/worse with movement), then often your pain is more about your nervous system being overprotective rather than what the X-ray or MRI says. And this is where our Reset-Reinforce-Reload method comes in of which Dry Needling is one of our tools to work to reset your alarm system. 

So, what is dry needling? 

With dry needling, we use acupuncture needles to target trigger points(knots in the muscles), tendon issues that aren’t healing, and sometimes areas that are blocking motion. So, how does putting an acupuncture needle into a knotted muscle actually get it to relax? Well, while a massage therapist may dig their elbow and pressure that muscle from the outside, with dry needling, we can put that direct pressure straight into the knot which, through a lot of cool neuroscience, gets it to relax and unlock. How I often describe it is this, imagine that a massage therapist has 10 elbows that they can put into 10 knots separately and hold that pressure for 20 minutes. Dry needling amplifies and multiplies that effect.  We then combine that with addressing underlying stiffness issues that are often at the root cause of pain to the shoulder(and elsewhere) then using our Reset-Reinforce-Reload method, teach you how to treat yourself in between our appointments so you can come back as good if not better than you left(often at least 25% better). 

Is it Safe

Yes, dry needling is used everyday and does not have the nasty side effects of opioids, doesn't weaken the neck joint like steroid shots, and often doesn't need to be done for years on end like injections. Often the only things somebody notices is some soreness from the muscles that were treated. We also supercharge out treatments by using electrical stimulation to your sore spots so you can feel improvement, often immediately.

Can I just have you do dry needling?

Dry needling works best when we do it with simple stretches and foundation fixing strength exercises that you can do with minimal equipment at home. At Body Mechanix, we teach you how to keep the healing going while you are in between treatments and is part of a holistic plan of care to treat the whole you.

How do I know if it is right for me?

Find out if this is the right treatment option for you for absolutely free by scheduling a no-cost dry needling consultation with one of our dry needling certified Doctors of physiotherapy. These are in limited supply and are on a first come first served basis.

Do I need a prescription?

No, in Florida you do not need a prescription to start.

What if I have more questions?

One of our Dry Needling Certified Doctors of Physiotherapy would be happy to answer any questions you may have-and they'll do it at absolutely no cost to you. Claim your Free Dry Needling Consultation here. In the notes, tell them that you have dry needling questions.

Confused about where to start? Book a call from the comfort of your home or office and  on your schedule with one of our Pain Specialists. You can schedule your call here.  Need help now? Come by and talk with one of our Doctors of Physical Therapy at no charge. We offer FREE consultations, which give you the opportunity to come in and meet us and see for yourself how we can help you.

Here are just a few of the things you will learn in one of our free consultation:

• What is the underlying cause of your pain? (hopefully nothing too serious!)

• Roughly, how long will it take to fix the problem?

• What to do to help – which doesn’t include painkillers, resting or surgery etc.

• What other, natural, drug free methods are there to speed up recovery alongside treatment?

Our consultations are great for anyone that may be “unsure” if physio is right for them, and they give you the opportunity to ask questions and see for yourself if we can help you.

If you’d like one of our limited free consultation sessions, please click here to schedule your free consultation or CALL us on 850-765-2779 to make a no-obligation enquiry.

About the Author

Dr. Brandon is the owner and a Physio at Body Mechanix Physiotherapy and Fitness. Four of his favorite people call him daddy while he's been married to his other favorite person for 20 years. He enjoys teaching martial arts and is a Mestrando in Capoeira while in the mornings, he can be found working out with the guys in F3 around town.  He's the author of 4 pain relief guides for sciatica, low back, shoulder, and knees and the lead contributor to the Active Tallahassee Blog.