Advanced Dry Needling in Orlando & Central Florida

Dry needling is a technique in which a licensed clinician inserts a thin, solid filament needle directly into a myofascial trigger point — a tight, irritable knot inside a muscle. The needle prompts the knot to twitch and release, which reduces pain, restores muscle length, and improves how the joint above and below it moves.

Nothing is injected. The word "dry" simply means the needle carries no medication. Most people feel a brief cramp or dull ache as the trigger point lets go, followed by looseness in an area that has felt locked up for weeks.

Dry needling helps people with muscle-driven pain: chronic low back pain and sciatica, neck pain and tension headaches, rotator cuff and shoulder pain, hip and IT band problems, tennis and golfer's elbow, and calf, Achilles, or plantar foot pain. It suits athletes, active adults, and desk workers whose pain keeps returning.

• Chronic low back pain and sciatica
• Neck pain, tension headaches, and TMJ
• Rotator cuff and shoulder impingement
• Hip pain, piriformis syndrome, and IT band issues
• Tennis elbow, golfer's elbow, and tendinopathies
• Calf tightness, plantar fasciitis, and Achilles pain

A single dry needling session at Say Yes Therapy in Orlando costs $95. A package of six sessions costs $450, which works out to $75 per session and saves $120 against single-session pricing. Pricing is self-pay and flat, with no add-on fees.

For a wider look at what this treatment costs locally, see how much dry needling costs in Orlando.

Dry needling is not usually painful. The needles are hair-thin and far smaller than injection needles, so most people barely feel them enter. What you do feel is a brief involuntary twitch and a deep ache in the muscle for a second or two as the trigger point releases, then relief.

Mild soreness for 24–48 hours afterward, similar to the day after a hard workout, is common and settles quickly with movement, water, and heat.

Most people need three to six dry needling sessions. Acute, recent muscle tightness often resolves in one to three visits, while long-standing chronic pain typically takes four to six, usually spaced about a week apart. Many clients feel meaningful relief within 24–48 hours of the first session.

That range is why the six-session package exists: it covers a full course of care for a chronic problem at the lowest per-session price.

Medicare does not cover dry needling. CMS assigns the dry needling codes, CPT 20560 and 20561, non-covered status, so dry needling is offered as a self-pay physical therapy service. Because it is not a normally covered service, no advance beneficiary notice is required, though we will provide a voluntary written notice on request.

Commercial plan coverage varies. Some plans exclude dry needling, while others cover it only within a broader physical therapy plan of care. See our Medicare and insurance page for what we can bill.

Say Yes Therapy is located at 6917 Narcoossee Rd, Suite 740, Orlando, FL 32822 — minutes from Lake Nona and serving East Orlando, Kissimmee, St. Cloud, and Winter Park. Sessions run 45–60 minutes, one-on-one with your clinician, and same-week appointments are usually available. Call 321-348-0317 to book. See our Lake Nona dry needling page or our East Orlando and Waterford Lakes page for the area closest to you.

Dry needling at our Orlando clinic is performed by Dr. Baher "B" Wahba, PT, DPT, DN, a Doctor of Physical Therapy with a dry needling certification who specializes in orthopedic and neurological rehabilitation. You work with him for the whole session — no aides, no shared time.

In Florida, dry needling may be performed only by a licensed physical therapist who meets the minimum standards in Fla. Admin. Code R. 64B17-6.008, including a minimum period of licensed practice, dedicated face-to-face continuing education, and supervised sessions. It cannot be delegated to an assistant or aide.

No. Dry needling is a Western, evidence-based technique that targets musculoskeletal trigger points identified during a physical assessment. Acupuncture comes from traditional Chinese medicine and targets energy meridians. They use similar needles but rest on entirely different reasoning and treatment maps.