Intramuscular Sitmulation (Dry Needling)
What is IMS?
Intramuscular stimulation (IMS) is a dry needling technique that involves the insertion of acupuncture needles into muscles for the treatment of chronic pain conditions occurring in the musculoskeletal system. These conditions can include: neck and back pain, frozen shoulder, tennis elbow, piriformis syndrome, jumper’s knee, runner’s knee and heel pain amongst many others.
Pain with no obvious or recent injury is often caused by a malfunction in the pain sensory system, and is called Neuropathic pain. This type of pain occurs when a nerve link to a part of the body malfunctions, and that area becomes highly irritable and extremely sensitive.
How can IMS help?
IMS/Dry needling treats neuropathic pain using acupuncture needles to target those shortened muscles that are the root cause of the chronic pain and treatment involves the dry needling of affected areas of the body (i.e. without injecting any substance). The needles sites can be at the epicenter of taut, tender muscle bands, or they can be near the spine where the nerve root may become irritated and supersensitive.
IMS relies heavily on a thorough physical examination of the client by a Physiotherapist trained to recognize the physical signs of neuropathic pain. This physical examination is indispensable since chronic pain is often neurological as opposed to structural. For more information, Contact us at Schomberg & Caledon, ON centers.
