Acupuncture and Massage Treatment in London

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At Spine Plus we provide specialist Acupuncture and Massage therapy by our team of osteopaths and physiotherapists in London, focusing on acupressure points and massage treatment. Osteopathy and Physiotherapy both involve manual manipulation of the body, together with exercise and lifestyle advice, to help with a range of conditions such as back pain, rehabilitation from orthopaedic surgery, whiplash, repetitive strain (RSI) and sports injuries.

Spine Plus clinics that provide Manual Therapy

About Trigger Point Dry Needling – Medical Acupuncture

One of the distinguishing features of our therapists is that they are all trained in trigger point dry needling (medical acupuncture) and acupressure (which they can use if preferred). This can be highly effective for relieving painful trigger points, especially when combined with other forms of treatment such as deep massage and electrotherapy. Trigger points are tight bands or knots in muscle tissue which are often a major component of persistent or chronic conditions such as tension headaches and other “referred pain” conditions.

A very common area for trigger points to occur is in the muscle in the top of your shoulder. This trigger point usually causes referred pain to the head and neck and restricted movement of the neck.

Other common areas for trigger points to form are in the deep gluteal muscles around the hip. These can cause pain all the way down the leg which can be mistaken for, or co-exist with, “sciatic” pain from trapped nerves in the lower back.

Pain killers can help mask the symptoms but within a trigger point there is usually spontaneous electrical activity causing the fibres to be permanently contracted. Consciously trying to relax the area, stretching, massaging and even taking muscle relaxant medication will often not be enough to make the knot let go. In fact some forms of massage and stretching can even make the tension worse by irritating the sensitive nerve endings within the trigger points.

What therapies exist to relieve trigger points?

Some pain doctors use injections to relieve trigger points. This involves using a hypodermic needle to inject various medications such as local anaesthetic, cortico-steroid or Botox. However complications may occur due to the drugs used and as well as being relatively expensive there is often a limit on the number of times these procedures can be used. It has been found in research studies that people improve when needles are inserted in trigger points, no matter what substance is injected, or even if nothing is injected (dry needling). Therefore, it is often the effect of the needle that helps, not the medication injected.

Dry Needling from Spine Plus Clinics

Dry Needling & Deep Tissue Massage

How does trigger point dry needling work?

Dry needling works by promoting blood flow, reducing the spontaneous electrical activity within trigger points and stimulating the body to release growth factors that promote healing. Dry needling also offers several advantages over injections, no medication is involved so there are less side effects and it is a lot cheaper to perform.

How often?

At Spine Plus Clinics we treat trigger points as part of a complete therapy program that incorporates dry needling, specialised trigger point massage, rehabilitation exercise and other physical therapy modalities. Dry needling can be performed once or twice a week initially before the intervals are extended, a typical course takes 4 – 12 sessions of dry needling. In the case of stubborn Trigger Points that do not fully respond to dry needling we then refer for injections.

Dry Needling versus Traditional Acupuncture

Trigger point dry needling is sometimes referred to medical acupuncture. However, dry needling is quite different from traditional acupuncture. With dry needling there is no intention of affecting energy meridians. Dry needling is based on modern science and knowledge of anatomy and physiology.

What does dry needling feel like?

You may feel nothing at all when the needle is first inserted. When the needle contacts the trigger point it should cause a twitch response. The twitch response is a small contraction of the muscle. It may just be a mild twitch, or it may feel like a “cramping” of the muscle. You might also experience referred pain in a distant area of your body. This is a good thing, especially if it’s a “familiar” pain for you. This means that we’ve needled an active trigger point which is causing some of your symptoms.

The twitch response is usually a strong indicator of a successful treatment, the stronger the twitch the better the improvement will be after. The area may feel mildly bruised for a day or so after and it may take up 48 hours to feel the full improvement.

Is needling safe?

Dry needling is a safe procedure, though there are some potential risks. We use every precaution to minimize these risks. The most serious complication which could occur is a puncture of the lung when needling around the chest wall (thorax). If this happened, it may only require a chest x-ray and no further treatment. Symptoms of shortness of breath may last for several days or weeks. A more severe lung puncture may require hospitalization and re-inflation of the lung. Thankfully the risk of a lung puncture is very low and in skilled hands should not be a concern, however the guidelines rightly dictate you should be aware of this risk before consenting to treatment.

Other complications include causing a bruise. Bruises occasionally occur but they should not be a concern unless you are taking a blood thinner. The needles we use are all sterile single use needles, so the risk of infection is negligible. Unlike syringe needles the needles used for dry needling are very small and do not have a cutting edge, therefore the likelihood of any significant tissue trauma is very small.

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Our osteopaths and physiotherapists work together, sharing knowledge and experience. They take a thorough “no nonsense” approach. Where necessary this involves careful and precise joint manipulation, with such techniques only performed with the patient’s full consent. We also use plenty of soft tissue techniques, including massage, applied to sore tight muscles. One of our hallmarks is that our osteopaths use medical acupuncture / acupressure, depending on the patient’s preference. This requires additional postgraduate training which they have all undertaken. We have found medical acupuncture to be particularly effective when combined with traditional osteopathic / physiotherapy manual treatment. Also, like most physiotherapists, our osteopaths are trained in the use of electrotherapy, such as ultrasound, which can be very useful for certain ligament and tendon problems.

This means our osteopaths and physiotherapists have all the necessary skills and abilities to provide the gold standard of treatment.