Dry Needling vs Acupuncture: Understanding the Key Clinical Differences

Believe it or not, acupuncture and dry needling are very similar, yet completely different! Let’s have a closer look at both.

Acupuncture derives from ancient Chinese medicine; it is thought to have originated more than 5,300 years ago. It is used to treat many different medical conditions, including and not limited to, respiratory and nervous conditions, allergies, and gastrointestinal disorders. When having an acupuncture treatment, the needles are gently inserted in specific acupuncture points of the body, mostly found along meridian lines. These lines are a specific representation of different organs. This type of treatment is generally relaxing and pain free, with the needles being left for 15-30 minutes.

Dry needling on the other hand, first originated in the 1930’s after Dr John Kellgren (a rheumatologist) found that injecting a saline substance into muscles could produce a distinct pain referral pattern. The pressure associated with the injection was found to relieve pain associated with that particular muscle and referral pattern.
Later in that decade, Dr Janet Travell ( a cardiologist) became extremely interested in Dr Kellgren’s work. Dr Travell questioned the use of saline, and instead found that the injection alone, without any additional substance, was enough to relieve pain within the muscle, hence the term ‘dry needling’.

Dry Needling is specifically used to relieve pain arising from muscle tissues, and even myofascial tissue. When using this technique, needles are placed into trigger points, and/or taut bands of muscle tissue, for as briefly as 30 seconds or sometimes as long as 10 minutes. It depends how the muscles react!

Below is some information that shows some differences, and similarities between the two techniques.