Acupuncture and Dry Needling
Acupuncture is one of the oldest healing practices in the world, having been around for more than 3,000 years. It is currently used worldwide as both a primary and complementary form of medical treatment. It involves inserting extremely thin needles in specific locations on the body in order to increase circulation, stimulate the release of hormones, or to stimulate a neurological reaction. The process usually causes little to no pain.
Western/Medical Acupuncture
Traditional Eastern Acupuncture is a complicated system of evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment that is based on Yin and Yang and a force called Qi. The style of acupuncture that I practice is based on conventional medical diagnosis and using concepts of modern anatomy and physiology. This style is referred to as Western or Medical Acupuncture. The goal of treatment is not to balance the Qi in the body, but rather to stimulate the body's own physiology in order to increase circulation, stimulate the release of hormones, and to decrease pain.
Click here for more information on Western Medical Acupuncture
CAN ACUPUNCTURE OR DRY NEEDLING HELP ME WITH.....?
Here is a link to a website I use all the time. It provides a good, evidence based explanation of how acupuncture can work with certain conditions. Some common conditions that I treat each and every day include
- Neck pain
- Back pain
- Tension headaches
- Migraine headaches
- Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain
- Fibromyalgia pain
- Knee pain
- Shoulder pain
- Elbow pain
- Ankle sprains
- Hamstring strains
- .....and much more
Dry needling is a form of modern acupuncture that focuses entirely on the musculoskeletal system as opposed to the more traditional meridian-based treatments of Eastern/Oriental Medicine. Dry needling is an effective therapy to treat muscular tension and spasms which commonly accompanies conditions such as arthritis, disc herniations, nerve irritation, muscular strain, and ligament sprains. Professionals refer to this technique as “Dry Needling” because there is no medication or solution injected into the tissues, such as with a hypodermic needle during a trigger point injection. In Dry Needling, the needle itself and the effects it produces within the tissues is the treatment!
Dry needling is immensely popular among elite athletes and is used worldwide for the treatment of athletic injuries, to enhance recovery, and for injury prevention. Dry needling can often shorten recovery time significantly due to the increase in circulation and initiation of the body's controlled inflammatory response.