Neurologic Dry Needling for Complex Persistent Pain: A Comprehensive Approach from the Athlete to Geriatric

Course overview

This 29 hours in-person integration course gives physical therapists the confidence to provide safe and clinically effective dry needling treatment from simple to complex chronic pain cases. Emphasis is on clinical application through the use of case studies and real patient examples to prepare you to deliver dry needling to your patients on Monday morning. This course dives into the management of chronic pain conditions that can be applied to a wide range of the population from athletes to geriatrics. Understanding of the IASPs classifications of pain (Nociceptive, Nociplastic, and Neuropathic) is imperative to understanding these primary pain mechanisms in order to develop clinical strategies to examine and treat patients using dry needling. We provide evidence of how dry needling acts on the peripheral, central, and autonomic nervous systems to desensitize nerve fibers and activates descending inhibitory pathways to modulate pain perception in the central nervous system. These effects may lead to reduced pain intensity and increase pain threshold providing improved patient function.