Dry needling

Dry needling is the use of a solid needle for therapy. This contrasts with the use of a hollow hypodermic needle to inject substances such as saline solution to the same point. Such use of a solid needle has been found to be as effective as injection of substances in such cases as relief of pain in muscles and connective tissue. Analgesia produced by needling a pain spot has been called the needle effect.

A survey of acupuncture and dry needling for the treatment of chronic lower back pain concluded that "Dry-needling appears to be a useful adjunct to other therapies". It then follows on by saying "Because most of the studies were of lower methodological quality, there certainly is a further need for higher quality trials in this area."

Comparison with acupuncture

Acupuncture has been defined as "...the insertion of a solid needle into any part of the human body for disease prevention, therapy or maintenance of health." Dry needling is therefore a similar technique to acupuncture, but unlike acupuncture it isn't necessarily associated with a belief in meridians or acupuncture points:

"The approach of dry needling is based on Western anatomical and neurophysiological principles. This is not to be confused with the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) rationale for the stimulation of acupuncture points. There are similarities, but also very significant differences between the TCM style of acupuncture and dry needling. Acupuncture follows rules and beliefs that have been established since ancient times, whereas dry needling ignores ancient acupuncture philosophy. Most, if not all of TCM, is based on pre-scientific ideas, whereas dry needling is totally based on modern scientific neurophysiology and anatomy. Dry needling is purely for pain relief and based on recent understandings in pain science. There is much less mystique surrounding dry needling for pain abatement."

Another difference is the diagnostic and therapeutic framework within which the treatment occurs. For example, osteopaths and chiropractors may use dry needling as part of their treatment.

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