Dry Needling

I've been wanting to learn dry needling for some time as I found the concept interesting and wanted to find out the difference between TCM acupuncture and dry needling. The opportunity came and I attended a dry needling course over 2 days in June.

The 2 educators from UK were very knowledgeable and funny; we had a great time learning and debating new/old theories. There were a total of 30 students and they varied from various backgrounds (physios, chiropractors, personal trainers, osteopaths) and nationalities (Irish, British, Singaporeans, Taiwanese, Filipinos).

Basically the idea I have gotten from this course is that TCM acupuncture worked along the meridian lines and aimed to get the qi flowing through the body to help the body heal and balance itself. Contrast this with dry needling, which aims to provoke a localised response in the individual muscles, where inserted needles induce a LTR (local twitch response) to release hormones that have analgesic effect to suppress pain as well as increase blood flow and allow for the removal of metabolic waste.

Needling the peroneals and tibialis anterior to relief pain for injuries like shin splints

Needling the quadriceps for injuries that cause pain to the knee

Lower back issues are so common aren't they?
Dry needling to release erector spinae and quadratus lumborum

Many thanks to David (tallest guy) for bringing in the speakers from UK,
Jimmy (left) and Giles (Jason Statham lookalike) for being funny and engaging educators.