The PARC Fitness and Rehab added an innovative new service in 2017, making it the first facility in Poplar Bluff to offer Functional Dry Needling, a technique designed to reduce pain and restore normal neuromuscular function.
"It's another tool in the tool belt," said Doctor of Physical Therapy Justin Emfinger, who is certified to perform dry needling.
Also known as trigger point therapy, dry needling targets the core, or trigger points, of strained muscles using small, mono filament needles. The needles, which are relative in size to acupuncture needles, are inserted into the skin until the trigger point is reached, eliciting a slight "twitch" response.
Emfinger said dry needling can often target and treat various types of muscle pain throughout the body.
"I'll find some of those tight spots, like in your lower neck muscles, we all have them, and I take the needle right to that spot," he said. "What it will do is cause an involuntary twitch. The muscle will fire on its own and allow those bands within the muscle to relax. Once I elicit that twitch, I can actually feel the muscle relax and feel the muscle's range of motion increase."
Emfinger said since the PARC began offering trigger point therapy, he has seen a lot of success with results impacting multiple aspects of healing.
"It actually does a lot more than just release the trigger points," Emfinger said. "The needle itself can cause micro trauma, in reference to kick-starting the healing process. It's a tiny needle and doesn't hurt. The thing you feel is the twitch."
Aside from reducing pain strictly by manipulating the trigger point, needling can also increase blood flow, decrease banding of the muscle, and change the electroactivity of the muscle itself.
"Some really tight muscles are not just super tight, but are in a spasm and just stay like that. You can't outstretch a spasm, but needling will allow it to relax by targeting the individual muscle's electroactivity."
Emfinger said dry needling also changes the central nervous system by resetting the nerve.
"So in this way, it's more than just a massage technique or other similar treatments," he said. "It has an effect on the neurological system too and I don't have anything else that can do that for a patient."
Emfinger said every person and every muscle is different. He said the way one patient responds to trigger point therapy will differ from the way someone else responds because individuals perceive pain differently.
"A chronic muscle can be a little more uncomfortable, but then to some people it doesn't feel any different," he said.
Emfinger said he suggests dry needling treatments twice a week, but in some instances will recommend three. He said the treatment can see effects lasting longer than most other therapies in a shorter amount of visits.
"If we really know it's just a myofascial pain, and we don't think it's a nerve or anything more serious, once the trigger point has been released, it can be that simple. It's done. There's nothing to say it can't stay for a few months or permanently," he said.
Emfinger said dry needling is also offered at the PARC's Doniphan, Mo., location and patients interested in trying functional dry needling should speak with their doctor to obtain a referral.
The PARC, or Physical Assessment Rehabilitation Center, is a division of Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center offering full-service, multi-specialty group, featuring physical, occupational and speech therapies, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, athletic training and community fitness center.