(also known as BioMedical Acupuncture)

WHAT IS THERAPEUTIC DRY NEEDLING?

Also known as BioMedical Acupuncture, Therapeutic Dry Needling is a treatment modality using extremely thin acupuncture needles for the treatment of numerous body structures. These include: taut bands of muscle (i.e. trigger points as classically introduced by Travell & Simons), tendons, ligaments, musculotendinous junctions, osseoligamentous junctions, and bone (“periosteal pecking”), and peri-neural needling for the purpose of improving microcirculation and disrupting fibrosis in chronic neurogenic pain syndromes. It is termed "Dry Needling" because the needles do not deliver any fluid, such as a hypodermic needle.
WHAT CONDITIONS BENEFIT FROM THERAPEUTIC DRY NEEDLING?
Lower Body Conditions commonly treated include: Neuropathies, plantar fasciitis, Low back pain, Piriformis and IT Band syndromes, sciatica, hip dysfunctions, knee osteoarthritis, patellofemoral pain syndrome, medial collateral ligament injuries, “shin splints”, ankle “sprains”, and Achilles tendinosis.

Upper Body Conditions commonly treated include: Tennis Elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, whiplash, headaches and migraines, rib syndromes, facet joint syndromes, neck pain and radiculopathies, shoulder impingement, and temporomandibular dysfunction. 

WHAT IS THERAPEUTIC DRY NEEDLING USED FOR?

Physical Therapists use Therapeutic Dry Needling to provide pain relief and stimulate healing in the treatment of numerous musculoskeletal and neuromuscular conditions. Brain imaging studies have demonstrated that needling of specific points (not trigger points), stimulates the descending pain inhibitory systems or cortical areas of the brain that are involved in pain control. Therapists do not use it for the purpose of altering the flow of Qi or energy along traditional Chinese meridians, and we do not claim to be performing the practice of traditional Chinese acupuncture or Oriental Medicine.

WHAT TRAINING DO THERAPISTS RECEIVE IN THERAPEUTIC DRY NEEDLING?
Physical Therapists begin with a comprehensive and rigorously detailed program of study in Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, Neuroscience, Orthopedics, and Kinesiology. They then receive training in evidence-based guidelines for the use of dry needling within the framework of western musculoskeletal diagnoses. In addition, they are also trained in the most recent evidence underpinning the mechanical, hypoalgesic (central, segmental, peripheral), neurophysiologic, chemical, and hormonal effects of dry needling.  They learn evidence-based guidelines for treatment, recommended “point” locations, and dosages for the use of dry needling. Much of the literature that “dry needling” draws from uses the term “acupuncture” in its title, and many of these studies have used both traditional acupuncture points and myofascial trigger points in their treatment regimes. Thus, a foundational knowledge of the nomenclature and the location of several key traditional acupuncture points is learned to help the clinician understand and interpret the existing biomedical acupuncture and dry needling literature within the context of neuromusculoskeletal conditions.