Since more than a year now, SmartEducation has been successfully organizing multiple high quality educational courses in Dry Needling, in collaboration with the internationally known David G. Simons Academy (DGSA). Since 1995 DGSA is leading in Dry Needling and Manual Trigger Points therapy  education wordwide.
We thought that it would be a good idea to introduce to you both the concept of Dry Needling as the course itself;

What is Dry Needling?

Dry Needling is a very effective form of Trigger Point Therapy. It is relevant for both myofascial trigger points and the fascia, where a specially trained practitioner needles a trigger point using sterile acupuncture needles. The pin prick action stimulates the oxygenation of the contracted muscle fibers and the fascia, reduces inflammation, improves blood circulation and thus sustainably reduces the local tension in the tissue with long lasting results. The pin prick into the trigger point produces a short contraction of the taut band, known as the local twitch response. The local twitch response is often described by patients as a pleasant “good pain” with a sense of release.

Dry Needling is a safe treatment technique which requires comprehensive and professional training with sound knowledge of anatomy and palpation skills. The practitioner must always be aware of the exact tissue or structure where the needle is inserted. Complications can be safely avoided as long as the practitioner follows the recommended safety guidelines and contraindications as well as the principle “in doubt stay out”. Our ultimate goal in our Dry Needling courses is safe and complication-free Dry Needling.

The educational path

The Dry Needling courses are intended for physiotherapists, manual therapists, medical doctors and chiropractors.
We start of with a 3-day introductory course (DN Top 30) that covers the foundations of dry needling, the myofascial pain syndrome, trigger points and the clinical highlights of dry needling. The course is a hands on course. Participants practice dry needling of the top 30 muscles among each other. This is a training program with immediate clinical applicability upon completion.

Than you move on to the two Advanced Courses (Lower Body & Upper Body) followed by an exam preparation day and eventually the exam itself ot obtain the Diploma of Dry Needling Therapist DGSA.

Please go and have a look on our website, where you can find a lot more information about the content of the course and its learning objectives. Have a look at our upcoming events too, and pick out your first Dry Needling course!

We’ll be back, with some more interesting stuff. Meanwhile, we’re looking forward to meet you soon and teach you all bout Dry Needling during one of our courses!

Team SmartEducation