Acupuncture and dry needling both involve inserting sterile needles through the skin and tissues to effect pain relief in acute and chronic conditions.
What is acupuncture & dry-needling?
Both treatments involve the insertion of small sterile needles through the skin as part of your treatment plan.
Acupuncture
Studies show that acupuncture helps alleviate pain and promotes tissue healing.
Dry Needling
These treatments help to release muscular trigger points, tightness, and muscle spams.
What Are Trigger Points?
Myofascial trigger points are hyper-irritable spots found in tight bands of muscles or in the muscle’s fascia layer. They are usually very painful when pressure is applied to them and the pain can radiate to various areas in the body. This muscular tightness and spasm will cause compression and irritation of the nerves exiting the spine.
Trigger points in one area can affect strength, flexibility, and coordination of muscles causing altered movement patterns. These abnormal movement patterns can result in stress and strain to areas far away from the actual trigger. In athletes, the presence of trigger points can lead to a significant decrease in performance.
Dry Needling
TDN is a treatment that uses very small, sterile acupuncture needles to release muscular trigger points, tightness and spasm which can be causing pain and movement dysfunctions.
Small, thin needles are inserted in the muscles at the trigger points causing the pain referral. The muscles then contract and release, improving flexibility of the muscles and decreasing symptoms.
In TDN treatment techniques the insertion of the needle activates a reflex causing the muscle to release which eases the pain. The insertion of the needle causes a minor trauma to the tissue which results in an increased blood flow in the area.
In addition, various biochemical changes have been shown to occur following this technique. All of these effects combine to normalize the muscle tone and thereby desensitize the nerve compression. This allows the muscle to be receptive to rehabilitation to restore normal movement patterns and peak performance of the muscular system.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture, an ancient form of Chinese medicine, first originated at least 2500 years ago. It has been scientifically shown to encourage natural healing, reduce or relieve pain and improve function. It is safe and effective and is often successfully used in the management of acute or chronic conditions.
Acupuncture involves the insertion of very fine sterile, disposable needles through the skin and tissues at specific points along the body called acupuncture points. There is no injection of any substance and the treatment itself causes minimal discomfort.
The theory is that inserting the needles brings the body's Qi , (pronounced Chee), or "energy" back into equilibrium by balancing the yin and the yang.
However, scientifically acupuncture has been shown to produce biochemical changes within the body that result in the release of endorphins which assist in the alleviation of pain and the promotion of tissue healing.
Acupuncture Canada has been actively training health care professionals since 1974. The physiotherapists at Motion Works Physiotherapy & Sports Injury Centre are A.F.C.I. certified to provide this specialized treatment.
Generally, acupuncture is combined with active treatment in order to achieve optimal recovery from injury.
Wondering if acupuncture or dry-needling can help you?
Our physiotherapists are certified to provide acupuncture to augment your treatment plan to manage your acute or chronic issue.