Dry Needling and Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

Dry Needling and Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

Chelsea Hall PT, DPT

Fit For Life Physical Therapy

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is muscle soreness that develops 24-48 hours following intense bouts of exercise.  It is typically associated with eccentric muscle contractions or repetitive work.  DOMS is different from a muscle strain as it is diffuse in nature and resolves after 4-5 days while a muscle strain is more focal, presents acutely, and takes 1-2 weeks to recover.

While DOMS will clear up after a few days, there are several things we can do to reduce the duration of DOMS such as massage, cold water immersion, compression garments, increased sleep, and performing an active recovery or cool down after each workout.  Additionally, a treatment we provide at Fit For Life Physical Therapy that has been supported by research to alleviate DOMS and improve recovery is dry needling.  In a systematic review (strongest level of research evidence), dry needling significantly alleviated muscle soreness rating, decreased creatine kinase levels, and improved maximal isometric force. 

In simpler terms, dry needling can make you less sore, improve recovery of muscle damage, and improve muscle strength after DOMS.  As we are pushing the envelope to become faster, recovery becomes even more important; dry needling is a treatment technique that can speed recovery and allow you to return more quickly to intense training.

Keeping active in whatever way keeps you motivated (running, walking, cycling, swimming, etc.) is very important for overall health.  Don’t let muscle pain or soreness keep you sidelined for extended periods.  If you are in pain, reach out to Fit For Life Physical Therapy to see how we can help your injury with dry needling as part of your customized plan of care.

At Fit For Life, dry needling is always part of a larger physical therapy treatment program and serves as an aid to achieve your treatment goals.  It is not a service we offer separate from a comprehensive physical therapy plan of care.

Fit For Life Physical Therapy cares for people of all activity levels - to help prevent, recover from, or rehabilitate sports & orthopedic injuries.  We are proud to move people every day.

Please visit our website https://www.fitforlifephysicaltherapy.com/, email us at info@fitforlifephysicaltherapy.com, or call or text us at any of the phone numbers for our three convenient locations inside Fleet Feet stores:

Polaris:  1270 East Powell Road Lewis Center, Ohio 43035 ~ 614-981-2065

Upper Arlington:  1344 West Lane Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43221 ~ 614-981-1979

New Albany:  5792 North Hamilton Road, Columbus, Ohio 43230 ~ 614-581-7441

References:

Huang C, Wang Z, Xu X, Hu S, Zhu R, Chen X. Does Acupuncture Benefit Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness After Strenuous Exercise? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Front Physiol. 2020 Jul 17;11:666. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2020.00666. PMID: 32765287; PMCID: PMC7379881.

Justin C. Lee, Jeremiah C. Healy,CHAPTER 60 - Sonography of muscle injury, Editor(s): Paul L. Allan, Grant M. Baxter, Michael J. Weston, Clinical Ultrasound (Third Edition), Churchill Livingstone, 2011, Pages 1137-1157, ISBN 9780702031311, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-7020-3131-1.00060-2. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780702031311000602)