Aging gets blamed for a lot of things that may have more to do with disuse, fear, and incomplete advice than the number of candles on your birthday cake.

Dr. Andrew Fix talks with physical therapist Eileen Kopsaftis about pain, aging, and strength through a lens that challenges the usual story of decline. Eileen questions the idea that weakness, balance issues, loss of independence, and chronic pain are simply part of getting older. Some of these changes may be common, but are they truly normal?

Andrew and Eileen unpack why pain often points to a bigger movement story. A shoulder issue may trace back to an ankle. Foot pain may connect to the hips. A limitation may have less to do with the part that hurts and more to do with the way the whole body works together.

They also talk about strength, stairs, muscle loss, and the subtle ways convenience can speed up physical decline. What happens when we stop taking the stairs? How much of aging is shaped by what we believe our bodies are capable of? This episode is a smart reminder that the body is a system, and aging can look very different when we keep building capacity instead of accepting decline as destiny.

Quotes

• “You have to believe that your body was designed to perform based on how you work it, based on how you feed it, based on how you live your life.” (Eileen Kopsaftis | 16:04)
• “There is a choice. If you believe you’re gonna decline no matter what you do, you’re not gonna do anything.” (Eileen Kopsaftis | 18:20)
• “The human body is not designed on a cellular level to decline. When you’re doing the right things the right way, your body responds. doesn’t matter how old you are.” (Eileen Kopsaftis | 26:45)
• “But as soon as that person stops having to climb stairs, they decline.” (Eileen Kopsaftis | 40:43)
• “It’s important for people to remember that they’re a whole body and they’re not a body part.” (Eileen Kopsaftis | 56:37)

Connect with Eileen Kopsaftis:

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Key Takeaways:

• With dry needling, inflammation is introduced intentionally to help move the body’s tissues through the repair phase and into the remodel phase.

• Inflammation helps reset the muscles so that they can relax and reset to their full length.

• Dry needling causes the body to release anandamide, which has a similar pain relieving effect to opioids.

Have you been curious to learn more about dry needling, but are not sure where to start?  In today’s episode, Dr. Andrew Fix speaks with Dr. Nate Henry, an Osteopractic physiotherapist and performance strength coach at Physio Room. He explains how dry needling differs from acupuncture, as well as the health benefits that can be achieved through this minimally invasive procedure.

Dry needling uses the same type of needles as acupuncture does, but is done with a different intention. Rather than manipulating your energy, dry needling aims to manipulate the body’s tissues to assist with the repair process. The needles introduce a small amount of intentionally placed inflammation into the muscle which helps tissue move through the repair phase and onto the remodel phase. Dry needling also causes muscles to reset to their original resting length by getting them to relax. It also is a great drug-free pain relief tool as it can cause the body to release anandamide, which offers similar pain relief to opioids without the risk of overdose or negative side effects.

Although dry needling may cause some mild discomfort due to the introduced inflammation, the benefits largely outweigh any risks. It is a safe and effective procedure with no downtime and is a great option for anyone looking to boost their body’s recovery, reduce pain, and improve muscle function.

Quotes

• “We need to understand exercise progression and load a lot better and apply it to our patients a lot sooner.” (9:51-10:00 | Dr. Nate)

• “When I apply needles to somebody’s body, I’m trying to affect the anatomical tissues of the body.” (22:32-22:37 | Dr. Nate)

• “We’re going to introduce inflammation on purpose. And I know that seems a little bit counterintuitive, but for somebody that has a sub acute injury or a chronic injury, let’s say chronic low back pain, there’s they’re simply not getting through the three step process of what when how the body responds to an injury, a inflammation, then it goes through a repair and then it goes through a remodel.” (23:36-24:02 | Dr. Nate)

• “In those chronic type injuries, they’re stuck in this inflammation repair phase and they’re not getting over the hump.” (24:20-24:28 | Dr. Nate)

• “When we stick a needle in a muscle group, it will restore its resting length.” (25:51-25:58 | Dr. Nate)

Links

Connect with Dr. Nate Henry:

http://spinalmanipulation.com/

https://spinalmanipulation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/peripheral-and-spinal-mechanisms-of-pain-and-dry-needling-mediated-analgesia-a-clinical-resource-guide-for-health-care-professionals-butts-et-al-2016.pdf

Connect with Physio Room: 

Website | ​​https://physioroomco.com/

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Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/physioroomco

Andrew’s Personal Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/dr.andrewfix/

Andrew’s Personal Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.fix.9/

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The post 71. What is Dry Needling? | Dr. Nate Henry appeared first on Physio Room.