My Physio loves Dry Needling - I hate it.
He finds the tightest and stiffest part of the muscle, inserts an acupuncture like needle and then starts wriggling it around until the muscle suddenly goes twangggg. I jump 6 inches off the table and he looks back at me with a satisfied grin and then looks for the next spot to needle. I suspect he was a dentist in a past life.
Picture the string from a bow and arrow. The archer pulls back the string as far as it will stretch and then releases to produce a mighty twang. Dry needling feels like that twang, except instead of stretching the string, the physio uses his voodoo needle.
Some people I've spoken to reckon dry needling is great, but to me it is the most un-natural thing that has ever happened to me, and it freaks me out. It doesn't help that I usually get the needles into the quadricep (thigh muscle), which on a long legged 6'3" cyclist is a pretty large muscle.
My Physio now blackmails me. If I don't do all my exercises, stretches, foam roller and tennis ball massages every day I'll get more dry needling. The foam roller and especially the tennis ball (rolling back and forth with a tennis ball under the quad with your full weight resting on it) can cause excruciating pain, but at least that sort of pain feels natural.
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