Dry Needling for Athletes in St. Louis: What to Expect
If you’ve heard that dry needling is just acupuncture with a different name, you’ve heard wrong. And if you’ve avoided it because you’re not sure what it actually does — or you’re worried it’s going to hurt — this post is for you.
Dry needling is one of the most effective tools in sports chiropractic, and at St. Louis Sports Clinic, it’s integrated into the care of nearly every athlete we treat. Here’s what you need to know.
What Is Dry Needling?
Dry needling uses thin, solid monofilament needles — the same type used in acupuncture — inserted directly into trigger points within muscles. A trigger point is a tight, irritable band of muscle tissue that has lost its normal function. It can cause local pain, referred pain to other areas of the body, restricted movement, and inhibition of surrounding muscles.
The “dry” in dry needling refers to the fact that no substance is injected through the needle. The needle itself is the treatment.
When the needle reaches a trigger point, you typically feel a local twitch response — a brief, involuntary contraction of the muscle. That twitch is feedback that you’ve hit the right spot. It lasts one to two seconds, and for many patients, it’s followed almost immediately by a feeling of release and relief in the muscle.
Dry needling is not acupuncture. Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine practice based on energy meridians. Dry needling is based on Western anatomy and neuroscience — specifically on the understanding of how trigger points develop, how they cause pain and dysfunction, and how mechanical stimulation through a needle disrupts that pattern.
How Dry Needling Works for Athletes
Athletes develop trigger points for a lot of reasons: repetitive training loads, compensatory movement patterns, acute injury, overuse, and poor recovery. Trigger points in key muscle groups can cause:
- Pain that doesn’t respond to stretching or foam rolling
- Movement restrictions that limit performance
- Inhibition of surrounding muscles — making nearby muscles weaker or harder to activate
- Referral patterns that create pain in unexpected places (a trigger point in the glute, for example, can cause knee pain)
Dry needling addresses all of these. When combined with hands-on rehabilitation and progressive loading, it creates results that last.
At St. Louis Sports Clinic, we never offer dry needling as a standalone service. It’s integrated into a comprehensive assessment and treatment plan — we use it to accelerate the work we’re doing with manual therapy, corrective exercise, and sport-specific rehabilitation.
What Does Dry Needling Treat?
Our sports chiropractors use dry needling to treat a wide range of conditions, including:
Muscle injuries and strains — Hamstring, quadriceps, calf, hip flexor, and rotator cuff strains respond well to dry needling, especially when the muscle hasn’t fully recovered despite adequate rest.
Chronic tendinopathies — Achilles tendinopathy, patellar tendinopathy, lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow), and plantar fasciitis often have a muscular component that dry needling addresses directly.
Low back and neck pain — Trigger points in the paraspinal muscles, gluteus medius, and piriformis are extremely common contributors to low back and hip pain.
Shoulder impingement and rotator cuff dysfunction — The rotator cuff muscles, upper trap, and pec minor are common dry needling targets for athletes with shoulder pain.
IT band syndrome and knee pain — The TFL (tensor fasciae latae), glute med, and vastus lateralis are frequent contributors to IT band and lateral knee pain in runners.
Headaches — Cervicogenic headaches and tension headaches driven by trigger points in the upper trap, suboccipitals, and sternocleidomastoid often respond rapidly to dry needling.
What to Expect at Your First Dry Needling Session
Before the needles go in: Your provider will conduct a thorough movement assessment first. We don’t dry needle randomly — we identify the specific muscles involved in your injury or pain pattern and target them deliberately.
During treatment: Most needles are in place for 30–60 seconds per trigger point. You’ll feel the muscle twitch at the trigger point — a brief (1–2 second) involuntary contraction. Some patients find this sensation surprising; almost all find it tolerable.
After treatment: Post-session muscle soreness is normal and typically lasts 24–48 hours. It feels similar to the soreness after a hard workout. Many patients also notice immediate improvements in range of motion and pain levels — sometimes significant ones.
Session frequency: Most athletes respond well to 1–2 sessions per week during the active treatment phase, with dry needling integrated alongside manual therapy and rehabilitation work.
Electrical Stimulation Through the Needle
One technique we use in select cases is electrical stimulation applied through the dry needle — sometimes called electroacupuncture, e-stim dry needling, or intramuscular electrical stimulation. After the needle is placed into a trigger point or targeted muscle, a low-level electrical current is run through it.
This approach serves several distinct purposes depending on the clinical goal:
Muscle activation: In cases where a muscle is inhibited or neurologically underactive — whether from disuse, injury, or compensatory patterns — electrical stimulation through the needle can “wake up” the muscle by directly stimulating the motor point. This is particularly useful for athletes recovering from nerve injuries, post-immobilization muscle atrophy, or significant motor inhibition from pain.
Neuromodulation: The electrical current modulates pain signaling at the level of the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system. For patients with chronic or sensitized pain states, this can break the cycle of central sensitization more effectively than needling alone.
Tissue recovery and blood flow: Electrical stimulation increases local circulation and promotes metabolic waste clearance in chronically loaded or hypoxic tissue. For athletes dealing with tendon pathology or stubborn trigger points that haven’t responded to standard dry needling, adding e-stim through the needle can accelerate the tissue response.
Not every patient needs e-stim through the needle — but for the right presentation, it adds a dimension of neurological influence that manual dry needling alone doesn’t provide.
Is Dry Needling Safe?
Yes. When performed by a properly trained provider, dry needling is safe and well-tolerated. All nine providers at St. Louis Sports Clinic are trained and certified in dry needling, and we follow strict clean needle protocols.
There are some contraindications — bleeding disorders, certain medications, needle phobia, and a few others — which we screen for during your intake. If dry needling isn’t appropriate for you, we have other effective tools.
Who Does Dry Needling at St. Louis Sports Clinic?
Every provider on our team is trained in dry needling and integrates it into their care. You won’t be sent to a separate appointment or a different provider for needling — it’s part of what your sports chiropractor does.
Dr. Tony Katakis, Dr. Nicholas Patullo, Dr. Wyatt Mohrmann, Dr. Jared Littlefield, Dr. Lydia Steika, Dr. Isaac Wersland, Dr. Tim Sullivan, Dr. Quartus Steika, and Dr. Tyler McLenithan all offer dry needling as part of comprehensive care.
Ready to Try Dry Needling?
If you’re dealing with persistent pain or a sports injury that isn’t getting better, dry needling may be the missing piece. Book a new patient appointment at St. Louis Sports Clinic — no referral needed.
Book an Appointment → stlsportsclinic.com/book
📞 (314) 200-5032
📍 645 Spirit Valley Central Dr, Chesterfield, MO 63005
Serving athletes and active adults from Chesterfield, Clayton, Ladue, Frontenac, Town and Country, Ballwin, Wildwood, and the greater St. Louis area.
