Assessment
A detailed history, then a thorough examination of movement, strength and the affected area. You leave knowing what is wrong, why it happened, and exactly what we are going to do about it.
Myofascial Trigger-Point Therapy
Dry Needling in London
Release the tight, hyper-irritable trigger points that are driving your muscle pain and limiting how you move, with dry needling delivered by our expert physiotherapists across three London clinics, always guided by a full assessment and paired with hands-on treatment and exercise so it opens a window for the rehab that lasts.
At your first appointment we look for the cause: your history, how you move, and what your work, sport and life ask of your body.
The assessment covers a detailed history and a thorough examination of movement, strength and the affected area. We explain what we find and agree a working diagnosis and plan you understand before you leave.
You go home with a written summary and a home-exercise programme built around your diagnosis and goals, so progress continues between visits.
Dry Needling can help to:
Release painful muscle trigger points
A fine, single-use needle targets the tight knot within a muscle that produces local and referred pain, easing it so you can move more freely.
Create a window for better movement
By settling trigger-point pain, needling opens a short window of easier movement that makes your hands-on treatment and exercises more effective.
Add a clear target to your treatment
Because it always follows a full physiotherapy assessment, every needle has a precise clinical target rather than being applied at random.
Ease referred pain in the neck, glutes or calves
Where trigger points in areas like the upper trapezius, glutes or calves are driving your symptoms, needling can calm both the local knot and the pain it refers.
Support your wider rehab plan
Needling sits alongside manual therapy and progressive exercise, never in place of them, so the lasting change comes from active rehabilitation.
Our dry needling team
Dry needling fees and insurance
You can self-refer and book directly: no GP letter needed, and every new patient can start with a free 15-minute consultation call. The same fees apply across our Soho, Liverpool Street and Marylebone clinics.
- Physiotherapy: a full 60 minutes for £145, whether it is your first visit or a follow-up
- 30-minute follow-ups at £90, with video appointments from £70
- Strength training and Reformer Pilates £120, sports massage from £75
- VALD performance and strength testing with a written report, £195
- 5% off a block of five sessions, 10% off a block of ten
- An itemised receipt with every session, for claiming back where your policy covers physiotherapy
Your journey
with Physio and Performance
Everything starts with finding the cause. Whether the goal is a marathon start line or a week at your desk without pain, we treat what is driving the problem, then build the strength that keeps it fixed.
Treatment
Hands-on manual therapy combined with a progressive, tailored exercise programme. Sports massage, dry needling, shockwave or Reformer Pilates are added where they help your specific problem.
Rebuild
Coached, progressive strength work restores the load tolerance your body lost, paced to where you start. This is the stage that decides whether the fix lasts.
Perform
Each follow-up reassesses you against your baseline, with VALD testing where useful, so your return to work, sport or training rests on measured readiness. Discharge happens by mutual agreement when you can manage independently.
From pain to performance. Pain relief that lasts is not enough on its own: we rebuild the strength behind the pain so it stays gone.
- Three central London clinics: Soho, Liverpool Street and Marylebone, plus home visits across London and online sessions.
- Led by physiotherapist Sam Harvey: 15 years of clinical practice and an elite-sport background across football, rugby and GAA.
- Physiotherapy, strength and nutrition under one roof: three clinicians, three disciplines, joined-up care.
We specialise in:
- Physiotherapy and sports rehabilitation
- Coached strength and conditioning
- Reformer Pilates
- Sports massage and soft-tissue therapy
- Dry needling and shockwave therapy
- VALD performance and strength testing
- Post-operative rehabilitation
- Running and gait analysis
- Sports nutrition and dietetics
3 Locations
Dry needling across our 3 London clinics
- Liverpool Street 280 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4RB View location →
- Marylebone 1 Orchard Street, London W1H 6HJ View location →
- Soho 111 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0DT View location →
Written and medically reviewed bySam Harvey, Physiotherapist & Clinical Lead · HCPC-registered · 15 Years’ Experience · Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP), with dry needling delivered as an adjunct in line with current physiotherapy best practice.
FAQ
FAQs
What is dry needling, and how is it different from acupuncture?
Dry needling uses fine, single-use sterile needles placed directly into myofascial trigger points: tight, painful knots within a muscle. It is guided by a physiotherapy diagnosis and current understanding of pain, rather than traditional Chinese medicine theory. The needles look similar to acupuncture, but the clinical reasoning is physiotherapy-led and focused on muscular trigger points.
Can dry needling treat my low back pain?
Not as a first-line treatment. NICE guidance on low back pain and sciatica (NG59) advises against acupuncture for non-specific low back pain, so we lead with exercise and manual therapy instead. Where a clear myofascial trigger point is contributing to your symptoms, needling may be considered as one adjunct within a wider plan, never on its own.
Does dry needling hurt, and is it safe?
The needles are very fine, so most people feel a brief prick followed by a deep ache or a short muscle twitch. Serious side effects are rare when delivered by trained, registered clinicians using single-use sterile needles. Minor bruising, brief drowsiness or temporary soreness can occur and usually settles within a day or so.
Do I need a GP referral for dry needling?
No. Physio and Performance is a self-referral clinic, so you can book directly with no GP letter needed, and a free 15-minute consultation call is available first. Dry needling itself is offered only after a physiotherapy assessment, so your first step is an appointment where we decide together whether it is appropriate for you.
Is dry needling safe if I take blood thinners or am pregnant?
Tell us before any needling if you take anticoagulants, have a bleeding disorder, or are pregnant. Anticoagulants and bleeding disorders raise bleeding and bruising risk, and we apply particular caution during pregnancy. We screen for these at every visit and will adapt or avoid needling wherever it is not appropriate for you.
Get Started
Ready to begin?
Book today.
Physio and Performance • 111 Charing Cross Road, Soho, London WC2H 0DT
BookAppointments typically available within 1–2 weeks