Dry needling?

[Holley]

My physical therapist is using dry needles to treat my "tennis elbow" in my left arm. Has anyone had this done? If so, did it work? I explained that I can't take anti-inflammatory drugs due to my blood thinners.

[jetjetjet]

Hi Holley I am at this time seeing a therapist for what they are calling Tennis Elbow - Now i was a gymnast most of my school years and competed at the states level - so i had many slams into the trampoline metal sides so i have bone chips in both elbows and knee's i had neglected to tell them that the first two appointments so i think that this may be my problem . have you ever had a accident or a big slam to your elbow - when i did tell the therapist that i had bone chips it did change his out look on what the problem really is . The plan we have now is to finish therapy and then his recommendation will be that therapy didn't work so the bone spurs or chips may well be the problem and having X rays to see the problem and have them removed . What do you think of this and your problem ??

[MaryF Administrator]

I am guessing you have checked with your main consultant or GP regarding this if you are still on Warfarin? There is a risk of bruising and I would not be proceeding without the consent of your main doctor and prescriber of your anticoagulants. I enclose this paper for you: jhandtherapy.org/article/S0... I also enclose this one to explain the difference between this and accupunture, as I had never heard of it: healthline.com/health/dry-n...

MaryF

[dogtail]

Had dry needling done 4 years ago before I was diagnosed with APS for heel tendinitis.I was on 325 mg of aspirin daily and did not have any problems and the procedure cleared my tendinitis up. Now that I am on warfarin , if I ever need to have the dry needling done again, I will consult with my GP first . Good Luck!

[Wittycjt]

Never heard of this! Thanks for the education. I hope it helps you,Cindy

[Beartje]

Hi Holley, I have dry needling done regularly. Mind you, I am not on bloodthinners. Sometimes the needle hits a vein and it starts bleeding a bit. Dryneedling works for me - my physical therapist has performed the procedure on my legs, arms and back over the past few years since I started training (because of my osteoporosis). It gives instant relief. The dry needling fixes the trigger points I get due to my training regime. I used to do 15 hours a week the first year - then I had a lot of trigger points. Now that I reduced training to 10 hours and perform more specific stretching exercises the need of dryneedling has decreased a lot to only a few times a year. I also had a tennis elbow last year and my physical therapist did (I hope this is the right translation) 'deep transverse frictions' on it and tought me a specific way of stretching it. He also tought me how to perform the deep transverse frictions, so now I can help myself if I start feeling a bit of pain again.

[Holley in reply to Beartje]

I will ask about the deep transverse frictions you mentioned to my PT. The needling wasn't doing anything in my opinion. She did a massage on my rotator cuff and shoulder last time. It really helped as all those muscles are connected.