Dry Needling for Shoulder Pain

Precision Performance and Therapy provides quality physical therapy services in Meridian, Idaho. We provide a range of physical therapy and rehabilitation services for a variety of injuries and ailments, from chronic pain to neck pain, to low back pain, joint pain, to post-surgical recovery. The shoulders are a common place for people to have pain. When it comes to physical therapy for shoulder pain, exercise is king, but dry needling can be a good adjunct to help move along the rehab process to pain free shoulder activity.

Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of dry needling for improving shoulder pain.

Shoulder pain affects a significant portion of the population. Young to older. Active to less active. Male to female. It can arise from weakness, stiffness, movement dysfunction, rotator cuff injuries, frozen shoulder, tendinopathy, myofascial pain, or surgery. Exercise to address the present symptoms and dysfunctions is the most effective and common treatment intervention to address shoulder pain, but adjunct treatments such as cupping, massage, soft tissue mobilization, and joint mobilization are shown to be helpful in reducing pain and restoring mobility as individuals progress back to their desired level of activity.

Another treatment that is available to aid in the shoulder pain rehab process is dry needling. Dry needling involves inserting thin, solid filiform needles into myofascial trigger points (MTrPs), taut bands of skeletal muscle, or connective tissue to alleviate pain and improve function.

How does dry needling work on shoulder pain?

Dry needling for shoulder pain involves targeting sensitive MTrPs in the muscles around the shoulder that cause referred and local pain. Dry needling can stimulate mechanoreceptors and sensory nerves leading to a reduction in pain perception. Pain is often the limiting factor in the progression of mobility or exercise activity. When people are in pain, they generally don’t want to move. Dry needling helps with pain reduction allowing individuals to move more freely and when people can move, it is much easier to improve. In my experience, I have also seen dry needling be a more tolerable treatment for many of my patients. Soft tissue mobilization techniques on sensitive trigger points and tissues can often be very uncomfortable and while the soft tissue treatment is effective, many times I have seen dry needling be much more comfortable in its application to sensitive areas when compared to other hands-on treatments.

  • Dry needling is associated with a reduction in muscle tension and range of motion improvement.
  • Dry needling is associated with improved muscle activation. When pain or injury are present, there is often an associated increase or decrease in muscle excitability and activity. Dry needling can help normalize muscle activation helping the body return to normal function.
  • Dry needling can enhance local blood flow and oxygenation by reducing muscle tightness and restoring normal vascular function.
  • In cases of chronic shoulder pain, the nervous system can become hypersensitive and dry needling can help reduce this hypersensitivity allowing the nervous system to calm down and return to normal sensitivity levels.

Here is what the research is saying about dry needling…

I will repeat again that exercise is the most effective treatment for shoulder pain (barring the need for surgery when indicated, of course…), but while current research is limited and the evidence is relatively weak when compared to other interventions, there is positive support for the use of dry needling to help with shoulder pain.

I will emphasize that the overall evidence of dry needling for shoulder pain is not as strong as other interventions and when compared to exercise, the benefits of dry needling are not significantly better than exercise alone (most of the time), but dry needling is shown to help alleviate pain and improve function in individuals with rotator cuff tendinopathy, subacromial pain (impingements), and shoulder related myofascial pain. Both in research and my personal experience, patients often report an immediate and sustained relief of pain after dry needling. Conditions that have been shown to have positive responses to dry needling include:

  • Rotator cuff tendinopathy
  • Myofascial pain syndromes
  • Adhesive capsulitis (Frozen shoulder)
  • Post surgical pain
  • Athletic overuse injuries

A good physical therapist can help determine when dry needling might be a good treatment to apply when addressing your shoulder pain. Dry needling does not always need to be a part of a physical therapy plan for an individual with shoulder pain, but in addition to the positive physiological effects, there can be some advantages when it is applied appropriately. These advantages include:

  • A treatment that is more targeted and precise. Dry needling is directed at the specific muscles and MTrPs that need to be addressed.
  • It is good non-pharmacological option for pain reduction.
  • Dry needling complements other therapy interventions.
  • There is often immediate, or near-immediate pain relief follows a dry needling session.
  • Dry needling is a fairly cost-effective treatment

What is important to understand is that dry needling in itself is not the treatment that will solve the shoulder pain. There are positive effects from the use of dry needling in areas of sensitivity, pain, mobility, blood flow, and muscle activation. When dry needling is applied correctly and these positive effects are then used to facilitate and promote the treatments such as exercise that are the ideal treatments for addressing shoulder pain, an individual can further maximize their potential for recovery.

Precision Performance and Therapy provides physical therapy services to address shoulder pain in the Meridian, Idaho area. Contact Precision Performance to get started on your recovery from shoulder pain or to find out how dry needling can facilitate your return to more pain free activity.

Chris is a real one. Down to earth, motivated and focused. Skilled with tried and true techniques and up to date with current studies. If you’re in need of PT, you won’t be disappointed here.

T.C.

Working with Chris was an absolute pleasure. Physical Therapy is really tough, but our conversations made it quite enjoyable. We’d basically talk the whole time. Thank you for everything, Chris!

C.E.

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1760 W Cherry Ln, Suite 130 
Meridian, ID 83642