Understanding Dry Needling, what it is and how it works.

Dry needling is the insertion of a thin single use sterile needle (similar to an acupuncture needle) into the muscle layers to target trigger points which feel like a taut band of muscle that for the patient can feel like a pain spot or an area of restriction and an achy sensation which can also refer to other areas. The insertion of a dry needle in the trigger point usually elicits a 'muscle twitch' known as a local twitch response (LTR). By the patient this can be felt as a dull ache for a short period. A LTR is a brief involuntary spinal reflex contraction of a taut band of skeletal muscle fibres that once elicited by the needle has biochemical changes stimulating the body's natural healing mechanisms - being certain hormones and neurotransmitters such as serotonin (regulates mood, sleep, appetite, and cognitive functions) as well as releasing endorphins and enkephalins which are neurochemicals that act as natural painkillers.

When we feel pain we tend to protect the area usually by muscle guarding which contracts the muscles into a shortened position (under tension), that protective position over time, even just a short time, can change the microscopic muscle fibres into growing new fibres around the held position. And when you go to change your body's position you can feel a 'pull' or a tension in the area or even other areas - think of holding the phone to your ear for 15 minutes or more and feeling a stiffness in your neck soon after, or sitting in a chair unmoving for a period and the stiffness you feel when you do go to move. Over a longer time the body can shift it's positioning via 'guarding' or structural compensations, ending up with a structural imbalance, which is sometimes visually seen, for example a shoulder sitting obviously higher than the other or the neck turned slightly one way - potentially causing more pain and discomfort elsewhere, especially when we now put 'load' on the body's new positioning. Having dry needling to reduce or eliminate the pain can help to unwind the whole process as mentioned at the start of this paragraph.

By inducing a 'twitch response', it can relax muscle tautness, increase blood flow, and relieve nerve irritation, helping to break the cycle of protective guarding and allowing the body to 'unwind'.

Dry Needling isn't the only way to elicit a twitch response, certain massage techniques can also do this - I'm thinking the 'squishy' areas such as the top of the shoulders or calves, areas that are more accessible to the therapists hands.

Is Dry Needling and Acupuncture the same?

The simple answer is no. Dry needling follows the Western approach of targeting the musculoskeletal system to treat pain. Dry needling is often administered by Physiotherapists and some Massage Therapists that have done additional training to their initial training.

Acupuncture follows the Eastern approach in being a holistic, traditional method that treats the whole body by balancing energy flow along meridians. And generally Acupuncturists are trained over 3 or 4 years to become an Acupuncturist, in NZ that usually follows the Chinese Medicine approach (TCM). However, some health professionals such as Physiotherapists undergo one year of additional training in Acupuncture as postgraduate training but generally they do not fall under the category of a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) instead they are classed as a Registered Physiotherapy Acupuncturist through the Physiotherapy Acupuncture Association of New Zealand (PAANZ). They use acupuncture to treat musculoskeletal conditions, often focusing on dry needling or western acupuncture approach.

The only similarity is that they both use thin single use sterile needles.