Dry Needling vs Acupuncture

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September 13, 2019

Chiropractic treatment, chiropractor, headaches, lower back pain, lower back pain treatment, Neck Pain, neck pain treatment, News

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There is often much confusion between dry needling and acupuncture
and what the differences are. Often dry needling is mistaken as acupuncture where
the approach and benefits are different.

What is the difference between dry needling and acupuncture?

What is dry needling?

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Dry needling is the technique where thin stainless steel, filiform
needles are used to pierce the skin in order to treat myofascial trigger points
(tight pressure points in the muscle).

Filiform needles are fine, short, stainless steel
needles that don’t inject fluid into the body. That’s why the term “dry” is
used.

The aim of dry needling is to relieve pain related to neuromuscular
conditions.

Evidence supports that dry needling
improves pain by reducing muscle tension, improves range of motions and
normalizes dysfunctions at the motor end plates (the sites at which nerve
impulses are transmitted to muscles). This can help speed up the patient’s
return to active rehabilitation.

The concept of dry needling originated in 1940 where medical doctors started treating myofascial trigger points by injecting a corticosteroid (anti inflammatory) into the injured muscle. In 1979 a Czech medical doctor did a study on “Dry” needling and looked at the efficacy of treating a muscle injury by inserting a needle into a muscle with no fluid injection. Since then dry needling has been used widely and effectively in the treatment of muscular skeletal injuries.

A few conditions that benefit from dry needling

Tendonitis & bursitis
Medial & lateral epicondylitis (tennis and golfers’ elbow)
Headache/migraine
Lower back pain
Shoulder pain
Joint pain
Neck pain
Headaches
Sciatica
Temporal mandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ)

What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is a form of
traditional eastern Chinese medicine that has been used for thousands of years.
Treatment is structured around the belief that a blockage of energy or QI
(sounds like chi) creates health issues. The treatment consists of inserting
fine needles into specific points in the body to release the flow of energy,
QI, therefore restoring the body to health.

Acupuncturists work with over 1000 acupuncture points distributed along energy lines, called meridians. Each meridian is connected to a different organ or system in the body.