Dry Needling – Cambridge Osteopath

Dry needling provides a fast effective route to pain relief through the use of fine needles inserted into trigger points in muscles. The needles penetrate deep into knots of muscles to relieve tension and increase blood flow to the region. They can hit stubborn knots with precision, even when the source of pain seems to be buried so deep as to be inaccessible to massage. Relaxing these trigger points can release long held pain. Because of their exact anatomical location on nerve pathways they can also reach the roots of referred pain in, for example, whiplash or tension headaches.

What is the difference between Dry Needling and Traditional Chinese Acupuncture?

When a needle hits the right spot there is usually a muscle twitch in response. It is important to distinguish here between Dry Needling and Traditional Chinese Acupuncture. At our Cambridge clinic we offer dry needling  based on modern medical science and practiced only by those doctors and other qualified health professionals who have undertaken postgraduate training. Tradition Chinese Acupuncture works with Chi or Qi in meridians and diagnosis involves meridians and has very little to do with western medicine.

The difference to the patient is that a small number of very fine needles are inserted deep and directly into the muscles rather than just under the skin. In Traditional Chinese Acupuncture there are usually more needles that are just under the skin and not only into muscle tissue. Dry Needling practitioners are skilled at finding exact trigger points with a high degree of precision.