Hello…After I made my post, I continued ASTYM for about 2 months and then felt quite a bit better. I recently started having a lot of issues again, and I am trying to get back into physical therapy for ASTYM. My physical therapist told me about something called dry needling.
Basically dry needling is a therapeutic treatment that involves using filament needles (up to 5 inches long) to be inserted into the muscle in the area of the body which produces pain and typically contains a trigger point. This is not like trigger-point injections where an injectable solution if also used; these are simply very thin needles inserted for a couple of minutes and then removed.
While I personally have not had any success with dry needling treatments, I wanted to put it out there so that other people can possibly use it in the future. It’s not very painful, and the sessions don’t last long. For me, my insurance doesn’t cover it but it’s $30 per area, so I have my hip flexer and upper leg done and it’s considered one area. My referring physical therapist told me that in a best case scenario, dry needling can provide relief up to two weeks. And trust me, the procedure sounds scarier than it actually is…Anywho, I just wanted to throw this out there for others who have chronic conditions, especially ones that are muscular. Hopefully it can help some of you out! 🙂