At Balanced Life Health Care Ferntree Gully, we perform both modern and traditional Acupuncture, Distal Acupuncture, Dry Needling, and Motor Point Acupuncture. All our needling techniques are performed by qualified Acupuncturist’s.
Many practitioners use Dry Needling to treat many different types of conditions, such as pain and musculoskeletal disorders including;
- Neck & Shoulder Pain
- Wrist & Hand Pain
- Plantar Fasciitis
- Lower Back Pain
- General tight muscles
- Conditions not responding to other treatments
Acupuncture Vs Dry Needling
Dry needling is a term that was derived in the early 1940s by a technique developed by Janet Travell and David Simons. Sometimes called Trigger point therapy, Myofacial trigger point needling or Western Acupuncture. Dry needling initially was the injection of substance such as orticosteroids, saline solution and analgesics into sites of trigger Points which are essentially a site of irritation within the muscle fibre which can form a knot or small area of muscle tightness, pain or contraction. Dry needling does not treat the root cause of pain it simple offers pain relief by releasing a tight knot. Dry needling now mostly uses filiform needles commonly used in Acupuncture. Dry Needling is a subpart of Acupuncture.
Acupuncture typically described a form of needle therapy performed by an Acupuncturist. The needles are inserted into “neural nodes” (or as we call the in Chinese ‘Jie’) and the stimulation of these nodes affects both the central and peripheral nervous systems. It triggers the release of the body’s internal chemicals such as endorphins and encephalin, which have pain-relieving properties. No Acupuncture does not work on energy flow or meridians, as incorrectly quoted as a point of difference by many manual therapists who perform dry needling. It works directly or indirectly on the injured body part.
The main difference between Dry Needling and Acupuncture, is the areas of needle insertion even in the same condition and the duration of needle retention. For examples an Acupuncturist may incorporate dry needling with distal needling styles, and will leave the needles in for a longer duration, a twitch response is not always necessary in Acupuncture. By using various different styles Acupuncture aims to get to the root cause of the pain, as well as offer pain relief as quickly as possible. Your Acupuncturist will guide you to the best style for your condition.
Want to know more about the two different styles? We have a blog post located by clicking the link below;
