Sometimes, patients phoned my office and inquired if I did dry needling. This is a new trend in healing, and even though the procedure has been around for several years, it is now beginning to attract a great deal of attention. How are acupuncture and dry needles different or the same? Let me explain in the article.
⚡️ Acupuncture and dry needling are two techniques that involve the insertion of thin needles into specific points on the body to alleviate pain and promote healing. While both methods use needles, they are different in their underlying principles and approach to treatment. Acupuncture is rooted in traditional Chinese medicine and focuses on restoring the flow of energy (Qi) and the organ function to regain balance and health. Dry needling, on the other hand, is a more modern approach that targets trigger points and muscle knots to release tension and improve muscle function.
If you ask, what is more effective?
Any condition has a reason or underlying cause; choosing the proper needle technique for each patient is more important to me. I will give you an example: someone will come for a headache. First, we have to analyze what causes the headache, which has many possibilities, such as migraine or tension headache, by differentiating the headache and asking a detailed question, examining the muscle or movement. If the headache comes from the neck or upper back tightness, I have to release this area of tension by using a dry needle technique on the affected muscle to get rid of the headache.
On the other hand, if their headache reveals it’s migraine, I will also need to work with another thing, not only needle on muscle tension, for example, if a sleeping problem, hormone problem or digestive problem triggers their migraine. I might use needle protocol according to what I found, such as body acupuncture, ear acupuncture or scalp acupuncture to promote healing. Also, I might recommend diet therapy or herbal therapy than acupuncture alone, a combination of which is very effective for migraine.
❤️ Acupuncturists are trained in a variety of techniques or protocols by using needles for healing purposes. However, choosing the best method for each patient is highly crucial to me.
