Dry Needling

June was quite a fun month for me, lots of different activities (CPR renewal class, GBN Birth Expo), reunions with friends (some from here & college friends), and fun events to go to. The events I went to were The Rolling Stones concert, the Braves vs. Red Sox, and another Triathlon in Chattanooga. Oh yea, and then there were those needles stuck deep in my hamstring & gluts. No, I’m not talking about acupuncture, but something more, or at least not like what I’ve experienced before.

For the past six months or so, I’ve been dealing with a slight nagging hamstring injury. For someone who really doesn’t get injured, this has been very annoying. I ignored it at first, only because I don’t get injured and thought this would go away, but it hasn’t. It comes and goes, sometimes it hurts when I run, sometimes it doesn’t, but it ALWAYS hurts when I sit. Thank goodness I’m on my feet all day, otherwise if I had a desk job, I’m not sure what I’d do. One hour into sitting and pain is typically shooting into my hamstring. Sometimes it’s in my glut muscles, so there’s no consistency with the area of pain. I’ve been adjusted, massaged, stretched, adjusted, massaged (have you heard of a cupping massage?), and there is some change, but nothing long lasting. But then again, I kept on biking, running and sitting, and didn’t give it much time to heal.

So I finally gave in and tried Dry Needling, basically when a Physical Therapist takes long needles and sticks them deep into your muscles (like 1” or more down), either the origin, insertion, or belly of the muscle, hitting trigger points to break up the spasm. And if you are lucky (sarcasm), they hook up those needles to electrodes and it’s like electric stimulation deep in the muscle. Was it painful? Heck yes! Not every needle hurt, just the ones that hit the painful trigger points. And to think I went there on my own, and paid money to have this done. Ouch.

But you know what? I think it helped. Each time, I ran with less pain the following day. Each time, sitting wasn’t as bad. In fact, I’m sitting right now typing this out after having the treatment done earlier today. And I’ve been sitting for an hour, and there’s no pain in my leg….yet. (On a side note, I’m also watching the World Cup and the USA Women just beat Germany to advance to the finals…YAY USA!).

I believe the origin of my pain is connected to my new bicycle though (I think), as that pain has started since getting my bike back in the fall. So my next step is to lower the seat a little, change how I’m sitting on the bike, as I believe my bike posture is contributing to it (not surprising since biking involves sitting!). Hopefully that will help the pain go away for good.

Sometimes the body needs more than just chiropractic care. Chiropractic is all about the nervous system, and making sure it is functioning efficiently. When there is no nervous system interference, that is when health & performance improve. I just needed a little more in the muscle work. At least I have been healthy!

In the meantime, I’ll continue to bike, run & stretch, while using ice, cold laser, essential oils, & Traumeel to aid in the healing. I’ll keep you posted and we’ll see how I am in a month.

And for those of you who read this blog each month, yes, I’ve been able to cut way back on coffee, down to 2-3x a week, I’m so proud of myself! The eating for my blood type is going OK, I’m aware of it, eating more foods that are good for me and fewer foods that are bad, but I’m not totally where I want to be. That’s a work in progress, just like anything else.