WHAT IS IT What is Myofascial Dry Needling. Myofascial dry needling therapy is a soft tissue treatment modality in which a single use, sterile, fine filament needle is inserted into the skin and muscle (directly at a myofascial trigger point), in order to treat myofascial pain and dysfunction. It involves insertion and repetitive manipulation of a needle within the tissue with the specific purpose of releasing trigger points, and restoring normal function within the bodies fascial network.   A myofascial trigger point, or "knot", is a hyper-irritable band of tissue where portions of muscle fibres are held in a contracted state. They are thought to form in response to trauma, unaccustomed loads, sustained postures, repetitive behavioural movement patterns, emotional stress and hot/cold environmental factors. Trigger points cause swelling within the muscle tissue that results in adhesions forming as layers of tissue become stuck together. This elicits an unnatural shift in the bodies tensegrity structure that results in detrimental tensile forces throughout the body causing soft tissue pain and muscular dysfunction (myofascial pain syndrome).    The insertion of a dry needle into a trigger point works to restore tissue dysfunction in both a physical and chemical way. Dry needling often results in a local twitch response, which signifies a release of tension within the tissue and initiates a reparative response that normalises the dysfunction. Furthermore, a chemical reaction takes place that causes an inhibition of the hormone responsible for chronic pain, and a normalisation of the neurotransmitter responsible for the contracted muscle fibres. In this way, Myofascial dry needling can often provide immediate relief from both acute and chronic pain, locally or globally depending on the referral patterns within the active trigger point. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about this modality or if i can help with any of your soft-tissue concerns.