People usually hear about dry needling from a friend or a coworker. Somebody at the office had it done for a stiff neck and swears by it, so now they’re wondering if it would help the tight spot that’s been sitting on top of their shoulder for a year. For a lot of people with stubborn shoulder tightness, it does help, especially when it’s part of a bigger plan.

Which Muscles Get Tight

The muscle that bothers most people runs from the side of the neck out to the top of the shoulder. There are a few smaller ones around the shoulder blade that join in too. These muscles do a lot of work just holding your head up and keeping your arms in front of you. If you spend your day typing, driving, or lifting kids, they rarely get a break.

After a while, little sections of the muscle can stay clenched even when you’re resting. Those are what most people call knots. Press on one and it’s tender. Sometimes it sends a dull ache up toward the base of your skull or into your arm. Stretching can loosen the muscle around a knot, but the knot itself often stays put.

We tend to see this in people who:

Work at a desk with their head leaning toward the screen
Always carry a bag or a child on the same side
Do a lot of reaching overhead at work
Tense up their shoulders when they’re stressed, often without noticing

So What Is Dry Needling?

We use a needle that’s about as thin as a hair, the same type used in acupuncture. The goal is different, though. Instead of following points on a chart, we put the needle right into the tight spot we found during your exam. The muscle often jumps a little. Then it starts to soften. It feels like a deep, crampy ache for a second or two, and then it’s over. Most people find it a lot less uncomfortable than they pictured.

Nothing is injected. That’s where the name comes from.

Why We Pair It With Exercise

Once the knot lets go, the muscle moves better and usually hurts less for a while. We take advantage of that. We’ll have you do stretches and strength work for your upper back right after, since the muscle is more willing to cooperate. If we only needled and sent you home, the tightness would likely come back, because the habits that caused it are still there. So we also look at your desk setup and how you carry things.

Let’s Work on Those Knots

If your shoulders are always tight and nothing seems to stick, come see our team at Modern Medicine of Surprise, AZ. We’ll take a look and let you know whether dry needling makes sense for you.