Dry Needling

In 2015, I completed my Certification in Dry Needling through Dr. James Dunning of the American Academy of Manipulative Therapy (AAMT).  Upon completion, I was immediately equipped with one of the best modalities known to me for healing.  Dry needling became one of the best treatment modalities for me to use in treatment to help many chronic conditions and stubborn diagnoses. By combining Dry Needling with other skills and techniques, it created the most complete recovery for my patients.  I could now treat the most chronic and unreachable problems that had been a source of frustration for me and my patients since I began my journey (in 1994) to be the best physical therapist. 

What is Dry Needling?

Dry needling, as defined by Dunning et al (2014) 1, then is “the insertion of monofilament needles (i.e. without any injectate) into muscles, ligaments, tendons, subcutaneous fascia, scar tissue and in the vicinity of peripheral nerve tissue.”

One of the most exciting aspects of dry needling to me is that I was able to reach the pain generator of my patients.  The dry needling allows me to bypass all the superficial layers and get down to those deeper problematic tissues that you just can’t reach from the skin surfaces.  In addition, as is suggested by many research studies, is that I am now able to stimulate not just biomechanical 2-4 but also chemical 5-6, endocrinological 7, vascular 8-9 and microcirculation 9 changes within the pathological tissue.

The effects don’t stop there; increasingly the research suggests dry needling can produce changes within the brain and spinal cord that not only provides pain relief through the body’s natural opioids but can also re-establish the body’s protective mechanisms against pain stimulation in the first place 10.

It sounds like acupuncture?

Although we do use the same needles, it’s important to understand that it is different from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Acupuncture.  While TCM acupuncture revolves around the movement of “qi” along meridians, dry needling is rooted in the western medical model.  A TCM acupuncturist would evaluate your tongue and pulse to determine where to locate the needles.  In contrast, we would complete a usual physical therapy evaluation identifying painful or involved tissues that we would target.

Another key difference between the two is the pathologies that each profession treats.  While we will only treat neuromusculoskeletal conditions a TCM Acupuncturist will treat a much wider range of pathologies such as stress, smoking cessation and wellness to name a few.

What do we treat with dry needling?  

In no particular order it can be used as part of a comprehensive treatment plan for low back pain, neck pain, tension headaches, tennis elbow, golfers’ elbow, knee osteoarthritis, plantar fasciitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, RC syndrome, piriformis syndrome and many, many other musculoskeletal diagnoses. 

-Kevin Taylor, PT, ATC, Cert. DN