Acupuncture and Dry Needling

Acupuncture treatment involves fine needles being inserted through the skin and left in position. It can be used to treat a range of conditions.
Acupuncture stimulates the nerves in skin and muscle, and can produce a variety of effects. We know that it increases the body’s release of natural painkillers – endorphin and serotonin – in the pain pathways of both the spinal cord and the brain. This modifies the way pain signals are received.

There is very good scientific evidence showing that acupuncture can help with short term relief of knee, neck and low back pain, and tension type headaches and migraine.

Dry needling is a manual therapy treatment using thin filament needles the same as used in acupuncture. It is most commonly used to treated trigger points which are tight tender knots in muscles which can cause pain, weakness and musculoskeletal imbalances. These tight knots in muscles can also increase the load on tendon insertions and contribute to tendonopathies such as tennis elbow and gluteal tendonopathy.Unlike acupuncture the needle can be inserted several times with the aim to elicit a twitch response in the muscle. Eliciting this twitch response has a positive effect on symptoms and the tissue. There are elecrtrical and biomechanical changes associated with dry needling that can assist with the healing process