Poking Holes In Dry Needling

Does Dry Needling Really Work?

You are in pain.  You have been in pain for years.  You have tried everything to help:  medication, injections, chiropractic care, physical therapy, massage therapy.  You have lost your ability to move comfortably and you even find yourself being less social.  You are ready to give up.  Then you hear from a friend that they got “dry needled” at physical therapy and they think it may be helping.  You immediately start to think that maybe that is the secret to you becoming pain free again.  At this point you are willing to try anything.  It can’t hurt, right?  Or can it?

There are many fads presented in the physical therapy realm and if you look back over the past several decades, many fads begin to fade.  Dry Needling is the latest and greatest craze now in our profession but when you really do your research, is it all it’s cracked up to be?  And, most importantly, is it really necessary to poke people with needles to try to get the results you want, even if the research does not support its effectiveness over other less invasive treatments?  Check out this article from Kyle Ridgeway, PT, as he intellectually dissects dry needling and thoroughly investigates the validity of this intervention.

What are the Issues with Therapeutic or Trigger Point Dry Needling? 9 Considerations to Ponder