Are There Different Types of Dry Needling and How Do I Choose the Right One?
There are MANY different types of dry needling, and not all of them are created equally!
There are also multiple different types of providers and movement professionals who can get certified in dry needling, making it that much more variable.
We are going to review the different types of needling and how to know which one will work the best for you, and which provider to choose!
We have reviewed in previous blog articles what dry needling is and what the benefits of needling are for the body and the nervous system. We also reviewed how it acts to relieve pain in the body.
The main goal of dry needling treatment is to provide increased blood flow and healing in injured and inflamed tissues. There is also a central effect on calming the nervous system and communicating with the areas in the brain responsible for the perception of pain.
It is important to understand that not all types of dry needling are created equal and with each provider that delivers dry needling, you may get a bit of a different experience and outcome.
There are 4 Main Types of Dry Needling
The first type of needling, and probably the most common, is trigger point dry needling. This method of dry needling involves inserting the needle into a painful muscle and manipulating it to elicit what is called a “twitch” response. The downfall of this approach is that it often will not address the whole body, and can miss the neurogenic component of muscle pain and dysfunction. This type of needling is best reserved for acute muscle strains and will not work well for more complex injuries and chronic pain conditions.
The second type of dry needling involves inserting the needles on the surface of the skin and leaving them there. This method of dry needling is referred to as superficial dry needling. This technique is used on areas such as the face, where the needle is simply set into the skin and left there. This can be powerful in reducing headaches, facial, jaw and ear pain conditions.
The third type of dry needling is electrical stimulation assisted dry needling. This type of dry needling is used to deliver rhythmic vibrations to the tissues, and can have a strong effect on pain relief and restoring tissue function.
Typically, this can be added once a baseline tolerance for dry needling has been established and the dosage is increasing.
The final type of dry needling is an integrative dry needling approach. This is the method we use in our clinic at Wildflower Physical Therapy & Wellness due to the holistic approach. When dealing with complex injuries and chronic pain conditions it is really important to look at the body as a whole. Treating a single muscle without assessing the nervous system as a whole is not as effective in managing pain.
With integrative dry needling, there are specific points along the spine and throughout the body centrally and peripherally that are integrated with painful symptomatic points to deliver a holistic treatment. I have found that this way of dry needling is the quickest way to help patients relieve pain and get to the root cause.
As a Doctor of Physical Therapy who specializes in chronic pain and is certified in Integrative Dry Needling, I may be a bit biased when I recommend that you receive dry needling from a Physical Therapist. Our entire curriculum in school was focused on anatomy and how the body moves the right and wrong way. That being said, there are a host of other people who can provide dry needling services including: chiropractors, physicians, physician’s assistants, athletic trainers and nurse practitioners.
It is important to look into both the level of training of the provider delivering dry needling and what type of training they received. I should also note that there are different legal requirements for dry needling based on which state you live in. California is an example of a state that does not permit PTs to use dry needling in practice.
Here in Indiana it is permitted and you do not need a physician’s referral to receive care!
Both of our PT’s at Wildflower Physical Therapy & Wellness are trained in the IDN (Integrative Dry Needling) model, which will provide a holistic and evidence based approach to treating pain with needling. If you’d like to learn more about the IDN approach you can reference their website here.
If you think you want to experience the incredible benefits of dry needling, schedule a complimentary screen with one of our qualified Physical Therapists to learn how dry needling and Physical Therapy can help you!