This blog post is a continuation of last month’s What is Dry Needling? - Dry Needling vs. Acupuncture!
Does dry needling hurt?
Dry needling can be painful when it is not done by someone highly trained and well versed with using needles. The technique for dry needling is to go into a trigger point (an area in the muscle where the nerve innervates, or communicates to the muscle) and stimulate it with an intense pecking motion. It can be aggressive and very painful.
When I find a trigger point, I will often vesiculate or twitch the muscle, but not aggressively. Once the muscle has completed the triggering cycle, I just let the needle rest and the muscles relax and realign. I call this anatomical, or sports acupuncture. We are using trigger points, or in my Chinese medicine training, “ashi” or “local” locations.
Dry needling, by definition, is a technique without needle retention. Therefore, practitioners are legally limited to triggering the muscle, then immediately pulling the needle out. This often leaves the muscle and body traumatized from the forceful technique, meaning the area is often sore and bruised.
After a sports acupuncture session from JADA, you might be a little sore from the muscle release and realignment, but that soreness usually abates after a few hours. And because acupuncture treats the whole body, not just a specific area, you will feel renewed, slightly “Acupuncture Drunk” , and hopeful!
What are the risks?
There are risks for both acupuncture and dry needling. But, generally there is a greater risk for dry needling, due to it usually being performed by a practitioner with only a few short days of training. Their understanding of the needle’s impact on the body is lacking compared to acupuncturists who have had a minimum of 3,500 hours of training and have a clear understanding of a safe needling depth in each area of the body.
There is always a chance for an accidental injury, but those chances are greatly increased with abnormal anatomy and lack of understanding from an under-trained practitioner.
When do you, Dr. Hilary, use dry needling as opposed to acupuncture?
By definition, I do not use dry needling. What I do use is similar - but better!
This is due to the fact that I retain the needles, perform “wholistic” and systemic treatments, have an acupuncture license, and treat using the complete and successful Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) paradigm just to name a few- treating the root and the branch for greater impact and improvement.
I often use anatomical needling, which I received education on in my TCM masters and have since received over 500 hours of specific training. Anatomical, trigger point, or “ashi” needling, has been a part of acupuncture treatments for 3-5,000 years!
How many sessions do I need to feel better?
There are many factors that play into the number of treatments it takes for a patient to feel better. Some of these factors are; the practitioner viewing your issue and you as one entity, the frequency of treatment, the length of time you’ve been feeling the pain or concern (acute or chronic), the treatment addressing the root of the issue or only the branch, the practitioner assigning effective homework and self-care exercises, and responsiveness of the patient’s body to the practitioner and the treatment.
In general, I expect to see some changes or improvements immediately or within a few hours of the treatment. If the concern is chronic, those changes might not last, and it is important to set up a treatment protocol so the patient does not bounce between feeling better, then how they felt before the treatment, then better, and so on.
Every individual is different, and this is important to keep in mind. I have found that the first 70-80% improvement happens rather quickly (again this depends on how chronic the concern is), but the last 10% can take a bit longer as there are smaller tweaks necessary to see the continued improvements.
How effective is dry needling?
Although I cannot speak about the effectiveness of dry needling from personal experience, what I can say is that many of the athletes I treat, including professionals, will come to me saying that they have been dry needled, but find my treatments more effective and much less painful. I can also say that the treatments we provide at JADA, using anatomical or sports acupuncture are highly effective, thorough, and holistic. We love working as a team with our patients to make sure they feel better and are able to live the life of their dreams.
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