Dry needling in Sydney, from the physio who lives and breathes it
Trigger point dry needling is what PACT is known for. Andrew Ellis has dedicated more than 14 years to needling, is the founder and host of World Health Webinars, and is the physiotherapist behind the @thedryneedlingphysio channels. If you want needling done properly in Sydney, this is the clinic that lives and breathes it.
Why people cross Sydney for needling at PACT
Most clinics offer dry needling as one tool among many, often learned on a weekend course. At PACT it is the centre of practice. Andrew Ellis began needling in 2012 and never stopped refining it, building his casework around stubborn trigger point pain, the chronic aches and referred pain patterns that regular treatment keeps missing.
Along the way he founded and hosted World Health Webinars, an online education platform that delivered courses to more than 5,000 clinicians across 14 countries, and built @thedryneedlingphysio, where he shares dry needling education with a community of around 15,000 followers. The techniques you see there are the ones used on the treatment table in Miranda.
That depth matters because needling results depend heavily on precision: finding the right trigger point, needling it accurately and safely, and pairing it with the follow up work that keeps the muscle from tightening straight back up.
What trigger point dry needling actually is
Dry needling uses very fine, single use sterile needles, the same type used in acupuncture, placed directly into a trigger point: a tight, irritable band within a muscle that aches locally and refers pain elsewhere. The goal is a local twitch response, a brief involuntary flicker of the muscle that releases the band and settles the referred pain.
It is called dry because nothing is injected. Where acupuncture works on traditional meridian lines, dry needling is a western, anatomy based technique aimed at the specific muscle driving your symptoms. Most people describe a brief deep ache or twitch rather than sharp pain, followed by a heaviness in the muscle that eases over a day or so as the area settles.
At PACT, needling is almost never used alone. It opens a window of reduced pain and improved movement, and we use that window for the hands on work, strengthening and load changes that make the result stick.
The problems we needle most
Trigger point needling earns its keep on the stubborn, referred muscle pain that has outlasted stretching, massage and rest. These are the presentations where we reach for it most often.
Visiting us from anywhere in Sydney
The clinic is at Unit 1, 196 Sylvania Road, Miranda, in Sydney's south, a short drive from the Princes Highway and close to Miranda station. We are open seven days, with appointments to 9pm on weekdays, so a session fits around work wherever in the city you are coming from.
Every appointment is full length: 60 minutes for an initial and 40 for a follow up, never a rushed needling in and out. Private health extras typically bring a session down to $60 to $100, and workers compensation and CTP claims are billed direct to the insurer with nothing to pay.
What you pay, with or without cover
Every appointment is a full, unhurried session with the time to work through complex, persistent problems. The fee is $165 for an initial visit and $142 for a follow up, and if you have Medicare, private health extras or an accepted claim, here is what you pay.
Paying privately
No referral or paperwork needed. Every visit is a full, unhurried session with the time it needs.
With a Medicare plan
A GP Chronic Disease Management referral rebates $61.80 on every visit, up to 5 a year.
With private health extras
Claim on the spot through HICAPS. The gap depends on your fund and level of cover. See all health funds
Workers comp & CTP
Accepted workers compensation and CTP claims are billed straight to your insurer, and we handle the paperwork.
Every bar is drawn to the same scale, from $0 to the standard fee. Private health gaps vary with your fund and your level of extras cover.
Good to know
Does dry needling hurt?
What is the difference between dry needling and acupuncture?
How many sessions will I need?
Is dry needling safe?
Is dry needling covered by private health extras?
Can I get dry needling on a workers comp or CTP claim?
See what people say on Google
We let our patients speak for themselves, on Google, where you can read it independently.
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Same day appointments often available at our Miranda clinic, or by telehealth across Australia.