Dry needling

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Dry needling, also known as trigger point dry needling and intramuscular stimulation,^[1][2] is a treatment technique used by various healthcare practitioners, including physical therapists, physicians, and chiropractors, among others.^[3] Acupuncturists usually maintain that dry needling is adapted from acupuncture, but others consider dry needling as a variation of trigger point injections.^[2] It involves the use of either solid filiform needles^[4] or hollow-core hypodermic needles for therapy of muscle pain, including pain related to myofascial pain syndrome. Dry needling is mainly used to treat myofascial trigger points, but it is also used to target connective tissue, neural ailments, and muscular ailments. The American Physical Therapy Association defines dry needling as a technique used to treat dysfunction of skeletal muscle and connective tissue, minimize pain, and improve or regulate structural or functional damage.^[4]

There is conflicting evidence regarding the effectiveness of dry needling. Some results suggest that it is an effective treatment for certain kinds of muscle pain, while other studies have shown no benefit compared to a placebo; however, not enough high-quality, long-term, and large-scale studies have been done on the technique to draw clear conclusions about its efficacy.^[5][6][7] Currently, dry needling is being practiced in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and other parts of the world.^[1]