Our office has provided Dry Needling services for Adamsville and the surrounding communities for many years.  Learn more about the benefits below…

What is Dry Needling?

Dry Needling, simply stated, is a health science which is used to successfully treat pain and dysfunction in the body.  It is the utilization of needles placed in the skin at various locations to relieve pain or affect a body part.  Dry Needling is the Western Medicine application of Acupuncture, which has its roots deeply planted in China.  Authorities agree that the science is about 5,000 to 7,000 years old.

Early Chinese physicians discovered there is an energy network traversing just below the surface of the skin which communicates from the exterior to the internal organs and structures, with over 1,000 “acupoints” on the body.  This energy works in harmony with the body’s circulatory, nervous, muscular, digestive, genitourinary, and all other systems of the body.  When this vital energy becomes blocked or weakened, an effect in a body system or location becomes evident.  Stimulation of one or a combination of key “acupoints” on the body may restore harmony to the affected area.

How does Dry Needling work?

Acupuncture’s goal is to restore normal energy flow and balance to the body by utilizing a combination of acupoints.  People typically think of needles when they think of acupuncture, and that is a common technique which is used by practitioners.  However, stimulation of these points may be done using other techniques such as ‘cupping’, ‘guasha’, application of heat or ‘moxibustion’, or sometimes simply pressure.  Medical research continues to attempt to explain in western scientific terms what the ancient Chinese described thousands of years ago, and many theories have been put forth as to why Acupuncture is so effective.  This is why it might be difficult for us to tell you exactly “how” it works.  All we know is that it does work, and we leave the reasons behind it to the researchers.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are many many disorders that have been successfully treated with Acupuncture.  Here are a few:

  • Low Back Pain,
  • Neck Pain,
  • Headache,
  • Knee Pain,
  • Sciatica,
  • Tennis Elbow,
  • Dental Pain (including TMJ pain),
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis,
  • Female Infertility,
  • Nausea/Vomiting (including Morning Sickness),
  • Hypertension,
  • Dysmenorrhea (menstrual difficulties),
  • Allergic Rhinitis (including hay fever),
  • Depression and more.

For a more complete list, visit the WHO website.

Does Dry Needling Hurt?

Patients who have received medical injections or shots from a hypodermic needle are sometimes fearful that Dry Needling treatments will be as painful.  This is not the case.  Medical hypodermic needles are stiff, hollow, and thick for forcing liquid into the patient’s flesh which is usually uncomfortable or even painful.  Acupuncture needles, on the other hand, are fine and flexible, no bigger around than a piece of thread, and do not cut their way through the skin like a hypodermic needle does.  When inserted by a skilled practitioner, the slender needle often produces little or no sensation at all.  When the needle makes contact with the point to be stimulated under the skin, sometimes people feel a tingling sensation or a dull ache, but this is nothing like the stinging sensation of an injection.  First time patients are often surprised at how comfortable they are during the treatment.