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Dermoneuromodulating, DNM
Hour- $135, 75 minutes $170, 90 minutes $200, 2-hours $260
what should you expect in your session
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What Is DermoNeuroModulation (DNM)?
DermoNeuroModulation (DNM) is a gentle, skin-focused technique that works with your nervous system to reduce pain and increase comfort. It’s often used by manual therapists and physical therapists who work with people experiencing chronic pain, hypersensitivity, or nerve-related discomfort.
Let’s break it down:
Dermo refers to the skin — your body’s largest sensory organ. The skin contains countless receptors that constantly send information to your brain about things like pressure, touch, pain, and temperature.
Neuro speaks to the nervous system, which includes the network of nerves communicating between your body and brain.
Modulation means to adjust or influence — in this case, how your brain interprets sensory signals.
Instead of using deep pressure or aggressive techniques, DNM uses light, targeted touch on the skin to engage the nervous system in a non-threatening way. The goal isn’t to “release” tissue — it’s to calm the nervous system, shift pain processing, and gently create a sense of safety in the body.
DNM focuses on the interaction between the skin, nervous system, and fascia (connective tissue) to modulate pain perception and promote healing. I took the class in the summer of 2015 and was blown away by the effectiveness of this technique. It can help in cases such as fibromyalgia and nervous persons allowing the body to relax, which allows for improvement. However, I am still learning a lot about this technique and am getting great results.
“For the past couple of months, Ashley has helped me manage my back, shoulder and neck pain using a new technique called Dermoneuromodulating (DNM). She recommended it as my muscles and nerves were pretty tense, and hard to work with using other massage techniques. It has worked great, I feel like my muscles are being re-trained and my back, shoulders and neck have felt much better. Ashley is great- quick to identify the problem(s), very attentive, professional and helpful!
How DNM can help with pain management:
I have been a therapist for a long time and have encountered clients who, no matter how light I massaged, always needed “lighter” pressure. I was unable to find an effective way to work with clients like this until I took a DNM course. You can watch this video of me in the class!
DNM aims to modulate the way the nervous system perceives and processes pain signals. By stimulating specific receptor, or “tender” spots, DNM can help “reset” or normalize the pain response. That leads to a reduction in pain perception! As these tender spots start to “reset” clients notice an improvement in mobility. This affects the skin but also the fascia under that skin, leading to a reduction in adhesions or restrictions that contribute to pain and limited range of motion. It’s like a neurological rest. By engaging specific receptors in the skin and fascia, it can influence the nervous system’s response to pain and tension, encouraging a more relaxed and balanced state. That may be why DNM is often used in conjunction with other manual therapies, such as myofascial release and massage. This combination can provide a comprehensive approach to pain management, addressing both soft tissue and nervous system components.
A lot of my clients comment on how relaxing it feels. Lowering stress levels has a positive effect on pain management. I use DNM often when a client reports anxiety and pain or dysfunction. As we continue this work it helps increase their awareness of their body and how it responds to touch and movement.
What should I know about scheduling a DNM session?
DNM isn’t a quick fix — and it isn’t meant to be. It’s a process. We recommend it when sensitivity is high, when other treatments haven’t helped, or when your body needs a gentler approach to pain management.
You may feel subtle changes at first: less discomfort, better sleep, fewer flare-ups. Over time, these add up. But DNM works best when paired with other supportive care — like movement, breathwork, or strength training — and when you’re willing to be patient with your body’s process.
If you’ve been dealing with persistent pain, we may suggest trialing DNM as part of your treatment plan. The body responds best when it feels safe — and DNM helps build that foundation. If you are in the Lancaster PA area you can schedule with Ashley. Check out a video about DNM below.
"DermoNeuroModulating, or -tion, is a structured, interactive approach to manual therapy that considers the nervous system of the patient from skin cell to sense of self. Techniques are slow, light, kind, intelligent, responsive and effective. Positioning of limbs and trunk affects deeper nerve trunks (by shortening and widening their container), and is combined with skin stretch directed toward cutaneous fields of nerves that branch outward into skin (which may draw neural structure further through its container). "
In the DNM Facebook group Dianna herself answered some questions regarding DNM. I have copied it for this page. I have several fellow therapists that have questions about this modality that I am sometimes unable to answer. As I learn now I will update this page.
We want to allow for temporal summation. It takes awhile, like everything else in nature. But it allows for better nervous system to nervous system communication.
Because they are so good for helping a nervous system sort out and rectify a pain problem. They are fast, they are directly connected to brain rather than having to synapse in the spinal cord somewhere, and best of all they are non-nociceptive.
What other area of the body can we touch first with our manual therapy? (Or ever?) 🙂