Ask a physio in Highett: what is cranial facial needling, and how does it help?

//Ask a physio in Highett: what is cranial facial needling, and how does it help?

Ask a physio in Highett: what is cranial facial needling, and how does it help?

Chewing hurts. You can’t eat. Those tablets aren’t doing a thing to help.

In addition to helping patients recover from injuries, our physiotherapists can also help remedy cases of chronic pain in all parts of the body, including in the head, neck and jaw.

To do this, our physiotherapists in Highett are constantly keeping up with the latest in physiotherapy practice and research – this is what allows us to get such great outcomes for our patients.

One particular treatment that has been gaining momentum in recent years is cranial facial needling.

This treatment can prove to be effective at relieving many different types of muscle pain – no wonder it’s being offered by more and more physios!

Cranial facial needling physiotherapist in Highett

“Wait, needles?”

Yes, needles!

Dry needling (or myofascial trigger point dry needling) is a procedure that many in the physio industry have turned towards to help relieve muscle pain and assist with a range of other musculoskeletal conditions.

While it may sound like pseudoscience, there’s plenty of preliminary research that suggests the procedure shows promise in reducing pain!

Your physiotherapist in Highett will carefully identify myofascial trigger points (knots, in other words) before targeting them with needling.

Muscles tighten and constrict in response to physical activity. When the muscles stay constricted however, this can lead to compression, issues with blood flow, compression of nerves and capillaries, and of course, pain, discomfort and decreased movement.

By inserting sterile, fine single-use needles directly into the affected muscles, we can undo knots and deactivate muscles, restoring them to a neutral, relaxed state. This can help relieve tension and pain, as well as help restore muscle function.

In cases where trigger points are restricting blood and oxygen supply to the muscles, dry needling can also assist.

Think of it like acupuncture, only unlike acupuncture, dry needling uses a modern understanding of biomechanics and focuses strictly on pain relief.

Introducing: cranial facial needling

If you perform a Google search for facial needling, chances are the majority of the results are going to be beauty websites extolling the ability of facial needling to “remove wrinkles”.

What we’re talking about however is cranial facial needling for the purposes of pain relief.

When our physiotherapists in Highett perform facial needling, it isn’t with the goal of removing improving your appearance – it’s to help relieve cases of muscle pain in the face and head.

Our team uses cranial facial needling to target cases of…

Jaw pain

There are many potential causes of jaw pain. While dental pain is the most common cause, in some cases, the root issue may lie with the muscles in and around your jaw.

During our initial consultation, our team endeavours to identify the root cause of your pain, and not just its symptoms. This is what allows us to provide solutions that are better suited to your circumstances and unique case.

In particular, the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is one of the most important parts of your jaw, serving as the hinge between the cheek and jaw bones.

Dysfunction in the muscles surrounding the TMJ such as the pterygoids, masseter and suboccipital muscles (upper neck) may result in pain, earaches and clicking/popping.

If the problem involves your jaw muscles, we may use cranial facial needling to relieve muscle pain in the jaw, targeting trigger points and knots that may be stopping you from talking or eating.

Chronic headaches

Suffering from chronic migraines and headaches? Are those headache tablets failing to help?

It could be that you aren’t addressing the root cause of your headache!

In many cases, headaches can arise from musculoskeletal issues elsewhere in the body – in particular, neck pain frequently results in headaches (this is what we call referred pain).

In cases where muscle pain is the root cause of your headaches and migraines, cranial facial needling can help. We can target trigger points in your neck, temples and more.

Our physiotherapists in Highett combine this technique with our host of other physio treatments for headaches to reduce and even eliminate the occurrence of headaches.

Learn more about physiotherapy for chronic headaches.

Postoperative jaw pain

It isn’t uncommon to feel lingering pain following surgery. If that pain sticks around for longer than it should however, further action may be required.

In some circumstances, that may involve cranial facial needling.

Cranial facial needling can help in situations where the soft tissue surrounding the area operated on are damaged during the surgery, or suffering muscle spasms.

If you’ve recently undergone a jaw or face surgery and are suffering from lingering pain, our physiotherapists in Highett may prescribe cranial facial needling to assist with your pain.

 Physiotherapist performs dry needling

Our physiotherapists in Highett get to the root of the issue

Each case starts with an initial breakthrough session, where we focus on diagnosing the root cause of your pain.

Using our unique AUS System, that’s exactly what our physiotherapists in Highett do.

While cranial facial needling can help relieve pain, it isn’t always the solution – in many cases, pain is simply a symptom of another musculoskeletal problem.

Instead of focusing on relieving the symptoms, our goal is to solve the problem. That’s why we put so much importance on getting the diagnosis right.

We provide a range of physiotherapy treatments that target head, neck and jaw pain. That solution may involve cranial facial needling, either in isolation or in support of other physiotherapy treatments, or an altogether different treatment.

Either way, it will be tailored for your unique circumstances!

Call Physio AUS for individualised physiotherapy for head, neck and jaw pain

Cranial facial needling is just one of the treatments our physiotherapists in Highett offer – our clinic offers a variety of different in addition to dry needling, including:

  • Mobilisation techniques
  • Strength building exercises
  • Technique and ergonomic adjustments
  • Remedial massage
  • Home exercise routines

Depending on your case, you may only need one – alternatively, you may need a unique combination – it all depends on your condition and needs!

Don’t let pain get the better of you – give us a call today on (03) 9525 6077, or click here to book now.

By |2020-07-28T13:05:29+00:00January 15th, 2020|Head|0 Comments

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