Stewart Memorial Community Hospital (SMCH) of Lake City has implemented a new procedure that is able to provide relief to patients. Branden Roberts, a physical therapist in the hospital’s Rehab Services department, utilizes a technique call dry needling to release stress and tension at specific trigger points. A needle that does not inject medicine is inserted into bands of muscles that are within larger muscle groups. The targeted trigger points in this procedure are knotted or stiffened muscles with the purpose of initiating a release that will relieve pain or improve range of motion. Roberts says he searches for the most tender, knotted region of the affected area, and then inserts the dry needle directly into the muscle and uses a pistoning, or up and down, motion to elicit a response. “When I feel the localized twitch response (LTR), which is the muscle twitch, I know I’m in the right spot,” he says. This will then open blood vessels and allow more oxygen and healing nutrients to reach the tissue. This process is typically used in conjunction with a variety of other rehabilitation therapies.
