Early Adoption of Dry Needling
How did dry needling become a thing in musculoskeletal care?
Dr. Scott A. Jones
Physical Therapist
The US Military’s Adoption of Dry Needling
My journey in the use of trigger point dry needling as a doctor of physical therapy began early in my career as a United States Air Force physical therapist. The truth is, I wasn’t even looking for dry needling to be included as part of my practice. I had been invited as an Air Force guest to Army field training. At the time, the Army had already been performing dry needling in combat areas for at least a couple of years. The Air Force was well behind the curve with regard to this powerful treatment.
The year was 2009, and while I was a little bit late to the game, the United States military really began to use dry needling only as early as about 2001 or 2002. After 2010, right around the time I had been certified and credentialed, trigger point dry needling really began to take off as part of a multifaceted and broad effort to begin incorporating alternative and complimentary yet scientifically proven therapies to combat the ever-increasing problem of musculoskeletal injuries and overuse injuries among United States military service members. In other words, we needed ways to keep “boots on the ground and in the fight” Because of the excessive costs of flying military members home with ankle, back, and shoulder sprains. Set another way, non-combat injuries were severely hampering and jeopardizing the ability of the United States military to maintain a warfighting presence because of injuries that were occurring on basketball courts and running tracks. We needed ways to rehabilitate people without sending them home first.
My training with the Army allowed me to become the first Air Force physical therapist to incorporate dry needling into my practice, thereby paving the way for all Air Force physical therapists after more than a year of training. This, in turn, allowed me to treat not just military service members, but civilians, dependence, and retired military veterans as well. after treating thousands of military men and women, as well as their dependents, and anyone benefiting from the Tricare and TriWest Military Insurance Networks, I retired in 2016 and brought my experience here to Colorado Springs.
Just as when I was an Air Force physical therapist, I continue to believe that dry needling is an incredibly powerful therapeutic modality when used alongside appropriate corrective strategies after a thorough assessment and diagnosis has been made. Dry needling should never be a stand-alone treatment, and should be incorporated as part of a systematic approach to complete a truly holistic and integrative process. I have found the research continues to show that dry needling, when used appropriately, provides exceptional relief and is an important part of a thorough treatment plan that has the potential to accelerate recovery and decrease pain.
Just as with my decision to adopt trigger point dry needling, the United States Air Force and the United States military in general, has moved toward incorporation of trigger point dry needling to the military medical framework as well as the Tricare and try West Insurance programs in order to prove injury outcomes with regard to joint sprains and sports injuries.
In this article We will take a look at some of the research demonstrating why the military has chosen to use dry needling as part of its comprehensive strategy to keep military members, their dependence, and retirees pain-free andMoving toward a more active lifestyle.
As always, remember that dry needling is not acupuncture. Acupuncture is over 5,000 years old and its focus begins with the practice of altering energy fields, also known as meridians, within the human body. This practice has its origins in eastern medicine while trigger point dry needling is focused on evidence-based practice with regard to Western medicine. While dry needling does use similar thin, filiform needles, our focus is on physiologic and neurodynamic principles to restore optimal relationships within functional pain pathways to improve motor control and movement function. the insertion of a dry needle into a trigger point, in more general terms, allows for a period of time where corrective strategies can be put in place to bake in the changes that have just been made. In other words, movement is restored and pain is decreased because functional movement relationships have been restored.
Just as when I began to use dry needling, the decision of the United States Air Force physical therapy as well as United States military physical therapy in general, Adopted dry needling to help military members decrease pain and improve function for many reasons:
- The first is pain management: as with many areas of the medical industry, military medicine has faced significant criticism due to alleged over reliance and over prescription of opioids. There was significant pressure from within and without the military medical system to begin a search for non drug options with regard to pain management. Dry needling demonstrated itself to be both quick and effective options to provide significant pain relief for all kinds of musculoskeletal injuries including back pain, shoulder pain and impingement, tendonitis conditions, ankle sprains, and pulled hamstrings and strains. This allows for a potentially significant decrease in reliance on drugs when treating musculoskeletal issues prevalent in military personnel due to their rigorous physical demands.
- Secondly we have the benefit of enhanced recovery: Dry needling has also been incorporated into research results indicating the possibility of speeding up recovery times from injuries, which decreases time away from work for both Military dependence and United States Air Force Physical Therapy participants. This improvement in reducing down time also improves military operational readiness. Dry needling has been shown to improve blood flow to injured areas, alleviate tight muscles, and thereby improve range of motion, which improves the patient’s overall sense of well-being and improves medical outcomes more quickly.
- Third, we have an increased ease of adoption, portability, and accessibility to military members and Tricare and Triwest insurance beneficiaries: While many procedures require prohibitive amounts of equipment and support personnel, as well as associated medicines and pharmacological support dry needling equipment can easily fit in a backpack and support multiple physical therapists and patience. This makes it easy for United States Air force, army, and Military physical therapists in general to provide access to improve Medical Care in just about any setting imaginable. This includes sporting events of any type as well as forward deployment locations during wartime operations.
While I was an active duty United States Air Force physical therapist, I was able to help incorporate and integrate true Point dry needling into military and Military dependent physical therapy and Rehabilitation programs. Here are some examples:
- With regard to trigger point management, myofascial trigger points are usually readily present and often highly sensitive locations that result in pain and decreased joint mobility. as such dry needling has become a mainstay in the pain management process as part of a rehabilitation early intervention technique.
- Considering post-operative rehabilitation, muscles and joints experience significant amounts of pain and stiffness. Dry needling continues to prove itself as a highly effective pain management tool that helps improve range of motion, thereby helping service members as well as dependents and retirees return to function and activities quickly.
- When dealing with chronic pain, many times multiple techniques are used in an effort to break the pain cycle. Dry needling utilization has become standard practice for what is known as a multimodal pain management approach, helping to reduce the intensity and frequency of chronic pain, in turn decreasing reliance on opioids and other long-term medications.
In the case of military members and physical therapists being sent to deployed environments, I was able to witness first-hand the implementation of dry needling to help meet the unique challenges that United States Air Force physical therapists face in war zones.
- Not just used by physical therapists, combat medics and other physicians, pas, and nurses, they received dry needling training to provide immediate pain relief in difficult environments and terrain. This training allows immediate treatment of acute injuries and Pain Management for emergent situations where full spectrum Medical Care can be delayed.
- Speed and ease of use: I to be amazed at how powerful this treatment is when considering how simple the equipment and process is. we’re really essentially just talking about very small needles, medical exam gloves, alcohol swabs for skin preparation. The ease and simplicity of the treatment in addition to the minimal equipment necessary makes this an indispensable part of musculoskeletal Injury care in any setting.
- There’s also a significant psychological benefit aspect to military members. Time and again, reports from deployment areas show that military personnel experience a sense of personal care and attention when dry needling is administered to an acute injury and medical support is far away.
As you can see, dry needling is now an indispensable tool in the United States military medical toolbox. It certainly was when I was an Air Force physical therapist. Interestingly, we are finding that the benefits are not only therapeutic, but logistically beneficial due to its adaptability in all kinds of environments and settings. as with most military Medical advancements, as the United States Air Force and Military medicine in general continues to study the benefits of dry needling, this will further influence civilian Healthcare practice as well, continuing to highlight military innovation and promote better outcomes for all musculoskeletal injury patients.
Exciting times for dry needling practitioners and their patients! We now know that dry needling is effective at not only decreasing muscle tension, improving joint mobility, and decreasing pain. It also has powerful therapeutic and autonomic nervous system regulatory effects with regard to helping decrease psychological stress and anxiety.
While further research is clearly needed, especially with regard to understanding long-term effects and benefits, dry needling continues to prove itself as an important part of any holistic wellness and injury recovery plan.
As always, our physical therapy clinic does participate in most insurance plans, including Tricare Select, Tricare Prime, and Tricare For Life for military active duty, military retirees, and their dependents. As a United States Air Force retiree myself, I am excited to continue to serve our nation’s guardians and their families.
- Gattie, E., Cleland, J. A., & Snodgrass, S. (2017). The effectiveness of trigger point dry needling for musculoskeletal conditions by physical therapists: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 47(3), 133-149.
- Navarro-Santana, M. J., Gómez-Chiguano, G. F., Cleland, J. A., Arias-Buría, J. L., Fernández-de-Las-Peñas, C., & Plaza-Manzano, G. (2021). Effects of trigger point dry needling for nontraumatic shoulder pain of musculoskeletal origin: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Physical Therapy, 101(2), pzaa216.
- Fernández-de-Las-Peñas, C., & Nijs, J. (2019). Trigger point dry needling for the treatment of myofascial pain syndrome: Current perspectives within a pain neuroscience paradigm. Journal of Pain Research, 12, 1899-1911.
Peak Health and Performance is veteran owned and operated and we participate in most insurance plans, including Tricare Select, Tricare Prime, and Tricare For Life for military active duty, military retirees, and their dependents. As a United States Air Force retiree myself, I am excited to continue to serve our nation’s guardians and their families.
In health,
Dr. Scott A. Jones
Physical Therapist
Movement Performance Coach