After Care

After dry needling treatment, you should rest and drink plenty of water. Avoid working out, but walking or any gentle movement is helpful to promote blood circulation. You can apply heat or alternating ice & heat if muscle soreness is excessive. Soaking in a warm bath with Epsom salts can also help. Lightly stretch the affected muscles and take over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications. Increase fluid intake for a day or two following the session and massage the area

What Not to Do after a Dry Needle Treatment
​Many people undergo dry needling therapy for the ultimate goal of achieving relaxation. This treatment works by using a filament needle inserted and aimed at various trigger points in the muscles, causing a twitch response. This helps release tension and pain, and it has been used widely as an all-natural way to address chronic pain, such as sciatica.  
If the idea of inserting these filaments into your body sounds daunting or painful, rest assured that you will feel little to no pain. In fact, many patients don’t feel anything entering their skin. However, if the muscle itself has a trigger point, then your muscle’s reaction may feel something like slight cramping, which is the twitch response mentioned earlier. This usually indicates that the treatment is working, and is a feeling usually welcomed by those who enjoy dry needling.
If you are new to dry-needling, then you must know that after the dry needling treatment session is over, only then does the recovery process begin. During this process, there are things you should avoid doing, in order to ensure that your healing process is quick and effective:
1. Do Not Use Cold Treatments for the Soreness It’s common to feel a little sore after a dry needling treatment or have some light bruising. Although you may be tempted to use ice to ease any soreness, we highly recommend that you not use ice to address this, and use heat instead. However, if you want to specifically address any bruising, then some short-term icing in the area is acceptable.
2. Do Not Overwork Yourself You may be tempted to start stretching and working out immediately after dry needling, especially if you have already set up a routine for it. In some cases, this is acceptable, as some form of exercise and stretching can help alleviate residual soreness and improve the recovery process. However, you must be careful not to push yourself too hard early on. If any of your stretching or exercising activity starts to hurt, you should stop before the discomfort gets worse.
3. Do Not Drink Alcohol After a dry needle treatment, you’ll want to avoid drinking any alcohol because it makes you dehydrated. Keep in mind that dehydration can worsen soreness and other symptoms you may have after dry needling therapy. As such, we highly recommend that you drink plenty of water instead. If you do happen to have some alcohol, limit it to a minimal amount, and always follow it with enough water to ensure that your body has what it needs to accelerate the recovery process.
Work with a Certified Dry Needling Practitioner Dry needle therapy may seem a little frightening for first-timers, and you can make the post-treatment experience more difficult if you don’t follow precautions. Fortunately, with proper planning, you can ensure that after treatment, you’ll come away relaxed and healthier than ever! To that end, don’t forget to ask your certified dry needling practitioner for help. Whatever it is you need, from asking questions about the treatment to looking for advice to recover faster, they can give you any information you need.