Body of Work

Dry needling is a technique sometimes used in conjunction with massage or physiotherapy (among other modalities) to create change within the muscular and myofascial systems.

It differs from acupuncture in that dry needling only aims to treat muscular and myofascial issues, with treatment rationales primarily based on Western understanding of physiology.

Dry needling is carried out by inserting acupuncture-type needles into the tissue to reduce trigger points (knots) by causing a twitch response, to create stretch within the surrounding fascia and to encourage inflammation and healing.

The ‘Dry’ in dry needling comes from the type of needles used; they are not syringe needles as nothing is injected into the body during dry needling.

The needles are very thin, usually around 0.25mm in diameter, and vary in length depending on the depth of the tissue being treated.

I offer dry needling as part of my remedial massage treatments if I think it might increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the treatment. Using needles can make it possible to treat more than one area of the body at the same time and can make it easier and quicker to treat the deeper muscles.

It is always up to the person being treated to decide if they would like to have dry needling during their massage sessions or not. Remedial massage therapists in Australia are required by our associations to hold a minimum of a Diploma of Remedial massage, complete additional, approved, training in dry needling and hold appropriate insurance.