Be sure to hit all the TP ’hot spots’

By | February 17th, 2016|Dry Needling, Trigger Points|

The local mechanisms for analgesic effects reported after dry needling remain a point of study and discussion and little clarity currently exists in this regard.   Central opioid release may be one mechanism that can be capitised on. In brief,

Comments Off on Be sure to hit all the TP ’hot spots’

Dry needling versus acupuncture: the ongoing debate

By | December 7th, 2015|Acupuncture, Dry Needling|

A few weeks back we posted a blog discussing three reasons why you should declare yourself as a dry needling (DN) practitioner and not an acupuncturist. This drew some interesting comments. So here is a little more on the issue…

Comments Off on Dry needling versus acupuncture: the ongoing debate

Adverse events versus side effects- What is the difference?

By | October 1st, 2015|Dry Needling|

Although dry needling is an intervention which carries very low risks, there are risk involved. In the context of dry needling the side effects and adverse effects can be defined as follows:     Side effect- Unintended effect occurring during

Comments Off on Adverse events versus side effects- What is the difference?

3 reasons

By | June 7th, 2015|Acupuncture, Dry Needling|

3 Reasons why you should declare yourself as a dry needler and not an acupuncturist   The patient Informing the patient is the responsible thing to do and actually enhances the treatment effectiveness.   It is the clinician’s ethical responsibility

Comments Off on 3 reasons

Fasciculations, twitches and contractions; terminology does matter…

By | December 2nd, 2014|Dry Needling, Science, Trigger Points|

One of the aspects that keeps dogging the ‘Myofascial Pain Syndrome’ world are inaccuracies; This extends to how we use terms to explain what is observed and ultimately treated. Recently, I came across a study by Rha et al. that

Comments Off on Fasciculations, twitches and contractions; terminology does matter…

Android version of dry needling 101

By | October 19th, 2014|Dry Needling|

To all of our android users, we are currently working on an android version of our dry needling 101 app. Hopefully it's released at the end of this year, but have patience:)

Comments Off on Android version of dry needling 101

What’s the flow?

By | October 16th, 2014|Dry Needling, Science|

When implementing a clinical intervention protocol, it can sometimes be a little hard to decide on the sequencing of the different elements. Should you start with massage/soft tissue work or should you do the needling first? [responsive][/responsive] Effective needling relies

Comments Off on What’s the flow?

What does dry needling actually do?

By | September 17th, 2014|Dry Needling, Physicology, Science|

In managing Myofascial Pain Syndromes, the elicitation of muscle twitches is still considered as the hallmark of effective treatment. These local twitches/contractions seem to result from:   Stimulation of the motor end-plate zones (MEPZs) which elicits large muscle twitches (Needle

Comments Off on What does dry needling actually do?

A needle is a needle… or is it?

By | August 27th, 2014|Acupuncture, Dry Needling|

A needle is a needle… or is it?   The use of acupuncture needles has proliferated among those of us who treat myofascial trigger points (TPs) using dry needling. The rationale is understandable as a sharp, solid needle is required

Comments Off on A needle is a needle… or is it?

Clinical concomitants during and after dry needling- the patient should not be a surprised…

By | July 1st, 2014|Dry Needling, Physicology, Trigger Points|

  Consider for a moment the diagram and its accompanying explanation below: This is a diagrammatic representation of part of a myofascial trigger point showing two motor endplates (MEPs) and juxtapositional contraction knots (CKs). A neurovascular bundle (NB) containing motor

Comments Off on Clinical concomitants during and after dry needling- the patient should not be a surprised…
Load More Posts