What is dry needling and how can it help my nervous system?
What Is Dry Needling?
“Dry needling is a skilled technique performed by a physical therapist using filiform needles to penetrate the skin and/or underlying tissues to affect change in body structures and functions for the evaluation and management of neuromusculoskeletal conditions, pain, movement, impairments, and disability.” (Caramagno 2015)
Dry needling is called “dry” because nothing is injected into your body. The benefit of dry needling comes from the needle placement and its cascading effect on our body.
How Can Dry Needling Help My Nervous System?
There are two major divisions of the nervous system. One is the central nervous system (CNS) made up of the brain and the spinal cord. The second is the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which consists of nerves that run throughout the body.
Peripheral NS is made up of two sub divisions:
The Somatic Nervous System - sensory signals from the body to the CNS and nerves that carry motor signals from the CNS to skeletal muscles (e.g. you touch a hot stove with your hand and the heat sensation goes to your brain and your brain tells your hand to pull away)
The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) - is considered “involuntary” because it helps to regulate the internal environment of the body to maintain homeostasis. It carries signals from internal organs to the CNS and from the CNS to the internal organs aiding in digestion, breathing, heart beat, etc.
The ANS has three subdivisions:
Sympathetic - simulates and mobilizes energy resources by responding to stressors such as fear, exercise, pain and uses energy to increase physical performance, enhance attention and focus, and regulate body temperature - commonly known as “fight or flight”.
Parasympathetic - conserves energy and promotes relaxation. It sends information to various systems including our heart, lungs, digestive system, reproductive organs, and bladder - commonly known as “rest and digest”.
Enteric NS - contributes to GI function including gastric emptying, absorption of nutrients, increased GI secretions, relaxation of sphincters.
For the sake of avoiding spiraling down a nervous system rabbit hole, let's focus on the parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic division consists of cell bodies from two locations: the brainstem and the sacral spinal cord and is critical to keeping our bodies regulated under stress and allowing our systems to recover.
The typical response of the human body to pain, stress, anxiety, tissue damage, trauma, etc. is turning up the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and conversely inhibiting the parasympathetic nervous system. This leads to chemicals and neurophysiologic imbalances, which can amplify pain. If this happens continuously it can lead to overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system and eventually lead to autonomic nervous system dysregulation. To put it simply, this can result in a system that is overly sensitive to life's daily stressors including non-noxious stimuli and can cause our bodies to believe we are more or less “under attack” due to an overactive SNS. It can lead to “mis-firing” signals from our brain to our muscles, thus creating muscle shortening. You may think of muscle shortening as “trigger points” or “tight and tender” muscles. This muscle shortening can lead to increased pain, collagen degradation, joint compression, decreased motor output (aka strength), and more.
Similarly, this can also impact our GI system and pelvic floor muscles since the PNS plays a direct role in regulation of those systems. We can see symptoms such as constipation, sexual dysfunction, poor absorption of nutrients, delayed healing and exacerbation of chronic illness.
Can you see how this can play a direct role in your overall mental state and well-being?
This cycle must be interrupted to restore the body back to homeostasis where the autonomic nervous system can work in balance. One method of doing this includes the modality of dry needling, which can address the imbalances by promoting sympathetic depression and parasympathetic elevation!
So How Exactly Can Dry Needling Impact The Nervous System To Restore Balance?
When we have muscle shortening aka “tight and tender muscles” or “trigger points”, this causes them to send signals to our brain that something is wrong. If not addressed, the body continues to send these signals which can overtime cause hypersensitivity meaning a heightened response to stimuli with recurring stressors. Also, muscle shortening causes a build up of toxins in our muscles such as excess concentrations of substance P, bradykinin, cytokines (science words for pain and inflammation).
When we insert a needle into a dysfunctional muscle or “trigger point” we release those bad toxins and open the gates for other chemicals that can help healing like CGRP (vasodilator for more blood flow) and B-endorphins (helps reduce pain and increase pleasure). The needle also induces local inflammation and increases blood flow to the area to promote better tone and nutrition of the muscle by filtering out those chemicals and allowing it to contract and relax properly to restore it back to homeostasis “happy muscle”. The muscle stops sending false signals to the brain that something is “wrong” thus increasing parasympathetic drive and balance between the nervous system, allowing the body to finally relax and begin its road to recovery.
However, the body is complex and many times there are other factors involved in a dysregulated nervous system. There can be emotional, psychological, and environmental components contributing to our stress response. Addressing the body holistically will yield best results. There are many ways to promote relaxation such as breath work, meditation, and vagal nerve stimulation techniques (topic for a future blog).
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I have taken dry needling courses from both the Institute of Clinical Excellence and Intricate Art Spine & Body Solutions. If you want to learn more about dry needling, I recommend following them on IG for more content or clicking their links below on the reference section. If you’re interested in dry needling, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Disclaimer: The content on the blog for Bella Benjamin Physical Therapy PLLC, is for educational and informational purposes only, and is not intended as medical advice. The information contained in this blog should not be used to diagnose, treat or prevent any disease or health illness. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk. Please consult with your physician or other qualified healthcare professional before acting on any information presented here.
References:
Caramagno, Joseph, et al. Analysis of competencies for dry needling by physical therapists. “Human Resources Research Organization (2015).
Clancy JA, Mary DA, Witte KK, Greenwood JP, Deuchars SA, Deuchars J. Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation in healthy humans reduces sympathetic nerve activity. Brain Stimul. 2014 Nov-Dec;7(6):871-7. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2014.07.031. Epub 2014 Jul 16. PMID: 25164906.
Hernández-Secorún M, Abenia-Benedí H, Borrella-Andrés S, Marqués-García I, Lucha-López MO, Herrero P, Iguacel I, Tricás-Moreno JM, Hidalgo-García C. Effectiveness of Dry Needling in Improving Pain and Function in Comparison with Other Techniques in Patients with Chronic Neck Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Pain Res Manag. 2023 Aug 23;2023:1523834. doi: 10.1155/2023/1523834. PMID: 37664417; PMCID: PMC10469395.
Institute of Clinical Excellence, 2024, Dry Needling 1 Lower Extremity
Jason Schuster and Angela Carlson, 2024, Intricate Art Spine & Body Solutions, DN II, DN III, Lumbopelvic Dry Needling
Mayor, D., 2013. An exploratory review of the electroacupuncture literature: clinical applications and endorphin mechanisms. Acupuncture in Medicine, 31(4), pp.409-415.
