Dry Needling
Dry needing is not traditional acupuncture, but rather bio-medical acupuncture. It is based on a modern understanding of human anatomy and patho-physiology, and on modern scientific research, drawing heavily on leading-edge neurological research using modern imaging techniques such as Functional MRIs of the brain. Dry Needling is used for the treatment of trigger points for patients with myofascial pain syndrome. During treatment, acupuncture needles are inserted into the skin and muscle directly at myofascial trigger points. Dry needling of a myofascial trigger point will elicit a local twitch response (LTR), which is an involuntary spinal cord reflex in which the muscle fibers in the taut band of muscle contract. The LTR indicates the proper placement of the needle in a trigger point.