Our e-Newsletter
Sports MedicineTrigger Point Dry Needling
Sports Medicine Clinic
(608) 263-4765
Spine Medicine Clinic
(608) 265-3207
UW Health Sports Medicine Sports Rehabilitation and UW Health Spine Physical Therapy offer trigger point dry needling as an effective treatment for muscular pain from sport and orthopedic injuries and conditions.
What is trigger point dry needling?
Trigger point dry needling involves the insertion of a thin needle (monofilament) through the skin without the injection of any drug or solution. The movement of the needle deactivates painful trigger points (knots) in muscle tissue, called myofacial pain.
Trigger point dry needling targets nerve and muscle trigger points that are found in a spinal nerve root segmental pattern. The goal of the treatment is to create a mechanical stimulus - a twitch response - from one or more muscles that share the same nerve supply. The twitch response affects the biochemical and biomechanical properties of that muscle. Most people don't feel the needle penetrate the skin during treatment. Once the needle has advanced into the muscle, it responds with an involuntary twitch and/or muscle cramping sensation.
What is trigger point dry needling used for?
Trigger point dry needling can be an effective treatment tool for acute and chronic pain and rehabilitation from injury. Generally patients have few side effects. Common conditions include:
- Tennis or golfers elbow
- Muscle strains
- Upper- and lower-back pain
- Shoulder pain
Positive results are often apparent within two to four treatment sessions but can vary depending on the cause and duration of the symptoms and overall health of the patient.
Our Trigger Point Needling Providers
Corey Block, PT, DPT, CSCS
Corey practices physical therapy at the UW Health Sports Rehabilitation Clinic and specializes in treating athletes. She is trained in dry needling through Kinetacore, and a provider in the trigger point dry needling clinic. Corey is a member of the ...
Elizabeth Bloom, PT
Elizabeth practices physical therapy at the UW Health Spine Physical Therapy Clinic currently and will transition to the UW Health at The American Center in August 2015. She specializes in treatment of individuals with functional limitations due to s...
Liz Chumanov, DPT, PhD
Liz practices physical therapy at the UW Health Sports Rehabilitation Clinic. Liz has a special interest in helping moms return to running following childbirth and uses her training in ultrasound imaging to retrain the abdominal muscles following chi...
Jennifer Doster, DPT, CSCS
Jennifer practices physical therapy at the UW Health Rehabilitation Clinic and specializes in treatment of patients with spine-related disorders and other orthopedic conditions. She has presented continuing education courses on evaluation and treatme...
Matt Hirscher, PT
Matt practices physical therapy at the UW Health Rehabilitation Clinic. His interests include treating patients with problems of the shoulder, hip, knee and foot/ankle, integrating exercise and manual approaches, as well as providing patient educatio...
Jenny Kempf, MPT, CSCS
Jenny practices physical therapy at the UW Health Sports Rehabilitation Clinic and specializes in treating patients who have lower extremity injuries due to running or cycling. Jenny works in the Runners Clinic and is also a co-coordinator of the Cyc...
Megan O'Connell, PT, DPT, CSCS, PES
Megan practices physical therapy at the UW Health Sports Rehabilitation Clinic. She is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association and a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Associa...
Rebekah Piazza, DPT
Rebekah practices physical therapy at Yahara Clinic and treats a wide variety of orthopedic conditions, including conditions affecting the neck, back, hip, shoulder, knee, elbow, foot and ankle. She is a clinical instructor and serves as an instructo...
Carrie Schwoerer, PT
Carrie practices physical therapy at the UW Health Spine Physical Therapy Clinic. She treats individuals with functional limitations due to spinal orthopedic disorders, prenatal/postpartum musculoskeletal concerns, pelvic floor dysfunction, and pe...
Julie Sherry, PT, DPT, MS
Julie specializes in orthopedic spine rehabilitation. She is an expert clinician within the UW orthopedics and rehabilitation department. Her special interests include treating athletes with spinal pain and the clinical use of electrical stimulation ...
Jacob Spiro, MPT
Jacob practices physical therapy in Sports Rehabilitation at the UW Health Research Park Clinic. His special interests include treating patients with problems of the shoulder, hip, knee, and foot/ankle, including both conservative and post-operative ...
Betsy Thompson, PT
Betsy Thompson is a physical therapist who specializes in treating people who have neck pain, headaches, low back pain and disorders of the pelvic floor including urinary and bowel symptoms. She also treats pelvic pain in both men and women, includin...
Joseph Tupta, PT, OCS
Joe practices physical therapy at UW Health and specializes in treatment of patients with orthopedic conditions and sports-related injuries. He has presented continuing education courses on evaluation and treatment of chronic pain, screening for cerv...
Courtney Wack, PT
Courtney Wack is a physical therapist treating patients at UW Health at The American Center. Courtney specializes in the treatment of patients with pelvic floor disorders, including men and women with urinary and bowel symptoms, pelvic pain, includi...
