This morning I went with my mate, Kelly, to her appointment with her osteopath. I mean, I waited in the reception area, tapping my foot and weighing up where we should go for brunch. But yeah, it was the first time I’d been inside a physical therapy clinic, so I guess it was kind of interesting.
After starting at the wall in a daze for a couple of minutes, I took to eavesdropping on a conversation a client was having with the receptionist. It sounded like her chiropractor was not available next week for her regular session. The client looked a tad bothered by this, and the receptionist explained that the clinician was away that weekend to complete another trigger point dry needling course.
At this, the client looked oddly stoked. “Oh, that’s good news,” I heard her say. “I love getting the needles.” My mind promptly began attempting to make sense of these words, putting forward scenarios that saw the client pinned vertically in a glass display case like a butterfly. Luckily, the conversation continued in a self-explanatory fashion, and I quickly learned enough about dry needling to discard the butterfly interpretation.
Turns out, it’s a technique for treating pain and dysfunction caused by tight muscles, including in acute and chronic orthopaedic and musculoskeletal conditions. A more rational brain than mine could probably have figured that out on the spot. Apparently this chiro has already had some training in it, and is now going to be completing an advanced course.
I did a quick internet search for weekend dry needling courses near Melbourne to see if I could learn more about the thing (hey, I had to pass the time somehow). From what I can tell, they’re pretty much only open to graduates of physical therapy degrees – practitioners in disciplines like physio, osteo and chiro.
Before long, Kelly emerged from the treatment room, so I didn’t get around to gathering much more information than that. Still, I learned something new before breakfast. Can you say as much about your morning?