The patient’s guide to trigger points from adriayellow11

An excerpt from “The Patient’s Guide to Dry Needling” by Adria Wofford

            …..Bethesda Physiocare defines dry needling as “an invasive procedure in which a solid filament needle is inserted into the skin and muscle directly at a myofascial trigger point.” The gauge of the needles used is similar to an acupuncture needle, hence the confusion over distinguishing between the two modalities. It is true that much research needs to be done before we know exactly how dry needling works. However, in dry needling the therapist remains in contact with the needle in attempt to elicit a local twitch response. That is, the needle is inserted and then gently manipulated by the certified physical therapist until a twitch in the muscle is stimulated that causes your direct or referred pain. Dry needling is based on Western medicine approaches. That means you will not be left alone lying on a table with the inserted needles. In actuality, dry needling may take less time and be less painful than Trigger Point Therapy Release.

An excerpt from “Foam Rolling for the Active Population” by Adria Wofford

…..Intense training can lead to muscle soreness that prevents athletes from performing their activities well in subsequent sessions. Pearcey et al. (2015) pointed out that muscle soreness causes a decline in movement quality through “changes in recruitment patterns, and increased risk of injury” (p. 6). To explain, when an athlete still needs to perform an activity while sore, he or she may practice incorrectly due to compensation in his or her movement patterns from muscle tenderness and pain. Later, the adapted movement patterns could make the athlete vulnerable to injury. In their study, Pearcey et al. (2015) found that the decline in quality of movement from delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) was not as bad if participants foam rolled after the soreness-inducing training session. In fact, they found that foam rolling “enhanced recovery from DOMS and reduced physical performance decrements” (p. 11). Although foam rolling has been proven to aid in recovery and range of motion, more exploration on effective technique needs to be done.

     Here is a link to my community service project for health and fitness promotion (and dogs) Abs4Labs. We had a great time and raised $95 for the labs!!

An excerpt from “Role of Personal History in Career Choice” by Adria Wofford

…..Currently I am recovering from what was an eleven-year career as a professional ballerina. The back pain ultimately led to my career’s end, as my movement became too dysfunctional to continue. I had trained excessively, neglected recovery, and ignored my pain for almost two decades. Nevertheless, in my opinion, practicing and teaching pilates on the side did extend my career. Towards the end I found a physical therapist who produced results. After a difficult period of forbidding me to dance or exercise, he helped me perform for another year and then ushered me into my quest to return my body to functional movement. I joined my first gym at age 30 and spent a year trying to learn how non-dancers exercise. Until then, I had never done a squat. I tripped over my feet in Zumba as I attempted to adopt parallel foot movement. Still, I discovered I love all movement, not just dance. My functional movement quest has me participating in everything from stand-up paddleboard yoga, to high-intensity circuit training. I have even done the boldest of obstacle races, the Spartan Sprint. In contrast, I do not do any martial arts or sports. I taught pilates part-time and then full-time over a span of 10 years before I decided to take it to the next level as a physical therapist.