I have a patient that I started treating at 2.5 weeks post-op (he is now right over 6 weeks post- op). His motion is progressing slowly w/ continued tightness and swelling into the ankle foot. I have not brought up needling to him yet because I was airing on the side of caution with it being surgical. His surgeon does not have any hold ups w/ dry needling and usually leaves everything up to my discretion.

I know that we stated in the course that we would avoid needling directly into any surgical site/area for a minimum of 30 days following surgery; however, would it be OK/recommended to needle in the more proximal muscle bellies of the perneus longus/brevis and gastroc areas sooner or no?

I treat a lot of post-op patients because I am tied into a Orthopedic surgeons clinic. So any guidance/guidelines recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks!