Dry Needling

Dry needling requires direct skin contact as needles are never placed through clothing. Please be sure to wear loose fitting clothing, a tank top or sports bra for neck, shoulder, and upper back symptoms to allow for appropriate access to your treatment areas. After a dry needling session you may experience soreness in the muscles that were treated. This should feel similar to a good workout at the gym and will go away in 1-2 days. While some patients experience relief in one or two sessions, others require longer treatment times, depending on the nature of the injury or pain. We will discuss this during your initial evaluation and determine the best plan of care to resolve your discomfort and return to you to your prior level of function. 

Dry needling should not be a painful experience. A guide tube is used to help place the needle and the pressure from that tube is all you should feel with insertion. Once the needle is in place I will guide it in your muscles to address the identified areas of restriction. Here you may experience a reproduction of your referred pain (pain in a different part of your body) or feel the muscle twitching as it is released. After a dry needling session it is advised that you keep moving and drink plenty of water. You may experience some soreness just like you would with a good workout, but this will resolve after 1-2 days. 

No medication is being administered during these sessions – thus the name dry needling. We utilize a thin filiform needle very similar to an acupuncture needle to provide dry needling treatment. 

Yes! Dr. Joy performed her training for dry needling with Myopain Seminars and completed her certification examination to receive the designation Certified Manual Trigger Point Therapist (CMTPT). Dr. Joy is a registered dry needling therapist through the Maryland Board of Physical Therapy.

Very few! As of 2020, there are new billing codes for Dry Needling.  When those codes were introduced, many insurance companies stopped paying for dry needling.  This means the cost falls back onto the patient - usually $30-60 per visit for dry needling, plus your co-pay or co-insurance (if you have one). What does this mean for Pelvic Pride?  This means the cost for dry needling at my practice is very similar to that of a practice who accepts insurance as you will still pay out of pocket for this service. HOWEVER, at Pelvic Pride, we will work one-on-one with no distractions or other people around during your treatment session.