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To Find Professionals In Dry Needling Pennsylvania Is The Way To Go

By Richard Collins


Dry needling is a form of therapy of muscle pain like myofascial pain syndrome, which uses needles. This process makes use of two kinds of acupuncture needles, that is, solid filiform needles and hollo-core hypodermic needles. The other name for this process is intramuscular stimulation (IMS). It is among the many traditional practices that fall under western medical acupuncture. When in need of dry needling Pennsylvania is worth visiting.

The Chinese style of tendinomuscular acupuncture carefully palpates Ah Shi points which correspond to motor points as well as trigger points in myofascial tissue. The Chinese style is different from the American and Japanese style because it uses lower gauge needles while the former use higher gauge needles. The use of lower gauge needles ensures precision in puncturing contraction knots. Most styles of acupuncture need practitioners to be very knowledgeable about channel networks and connections as well as the western anatomy.

As such, though not all acupunctural forms are covered by IMS and these two are different, some acupunctural forms can be termed specifically using the name IMS. These include tendinomuscular Acupuncture, Myofascial Acupuncture, and versions of Sports Acupuncture. A book written by Janet Travell was the first to describe the term dry needling. Thus, the credit for coining the term is often given to her.

Initially, there were concerns about the employment of solid needles. They were thought to lack the strength and tactile feedback that are provided by hypodermic needles. Solid needles were also thought as being easy to be deflected by dense contraction knots. However, those concerns were determined to be baseless and solid needles also called acupuncture needles are now being used.

In fact, it has been concluded by research that dense muscle knots are penetrated easier and better by acupuncture needles. They also give better tactile feedback and patients experience less discomfort. Acupuncture needle is the official FDA designation for the needles used. However, the technical design term, solid filiform needle, was introduced by practitioners whose scope of practice excludes acupuncture but allows them to offer IMS.

Currently, no standards for dry needling exist. There is also no body of evidence to indicate its efficacy in managing the medical conditions it claims. Most of the studies that were conducted on this technique were crowded by a lot of issues that made it impossible for any strong evidence to be gathered. For instance, sample sizes employed were small, drop out rates were high, and studies lacked randomization.

The studies failed to state if the pain the patient felt was solely caused by myofascial trigger points. Additionally, they did not adhere to minimally acceptable criteria that need to be followed to diagnose a myofascial trigger point. Drop out rates in some studies have been as high as 48 percent. However, research studies that continued to the end concluded that IMS can improve function, disability, and mood.

IMS is a treatment that is practiced and taught in many places worldwide. The teaching and practicing is done by various medical professionals including acupuncturists, physical therapists, doctors of osteopathic medicine, naturopathic physicians, doctors of medicine, and chiropractors among others. The scope of practice of acupuncturists, and Doctors of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine covers IMS.




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