I want to talk about something a little more tactical today – dry needling.
In true form, when I write to you, it is always about themes that we are seeing in the clinic. And this past week, we have fielded numerous questions about dry needling.
In case you don’t know – dry needling is when a physical therapist needles a muscle to relieve pain – during PT treatment. Usually, during a dry needling session, the aim is to needle a trigger point in the muscle that could be causing poor function and pain.
At Dedham Acupuncture, we keep hearing the same things over and over:
“I went to my PT and maaaaannnnn, did that hurt [the dry needling]!”
“I’m not sure that it worked and it seemed really barbaric.”
We also hear all the time, “It helped but WOW was it painful.”
Are you seeing a pattern?
Dry needling is acupuncture by a physical therapist who learned it during a weekend seminar. They are taught to use a needle to aggressively go into a trigger point to release a muscle. And yep, it can hurt! Dry needling is a sensitive treatment, and when done aggressively – it can be a really unenjoyable experience. Can we, as acupuncturists, do this? Yes, of course! We do it all the time – except you didn’t notice at your last visit because it didn’t have you writhing in pain.
Do we, here at Dedham Acupuncture, like physical therapy? Absolutely. It’s essential for post-surgical patients and for most chronic pain patients. Do we think physical therapy works? Yes – 100%. We recommend it to many patients and absolutely know the benefits. Do we think that dry needling by a PT is negligence? Mostly no, but it can get close to that line in a lot of situations.
It’s like calling Mac n Cheese fine Italian dining.
Except it can hurt – a lot. And you don’t get that added benefits of other acupuncture points to help manage inflammation and stress within your whole body. So, get acupuncture – it’s much more holistic and a much better experience overall by a licensed acupuncturist who has worked with thousands of patients.
Next time you are in, tell us your experience with dry needling.
Have a nice long weekend,
Nicole
What Are You Tolerating?
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