If you’ve been looking for help with muscle tightness, neck pain or back pain, you may have come across both acupuncture and dry needling.
They’re often presented as completely different treatments, but in practice there can be quite a bit of overlap.
In my clinic, I use a Traditional Chinese Medicine assessment to understand the overall pattern, then use palpation — actually feeling the tissues — to refine the treatment. If a particular muscle or tender area needs direct attention, I can target it as well.
I don’t necessarily see acupuncture and dry needling as an either/or choice.
Where does dry needling fit in?
Dry needling usually refers to placing a needle directly into a tight, tender or problematic muscle.
In Chinese medicine, we also have a long history of finding tender or reactive areas through palpation. These are often called Ashi points — essentially areas that stand out because they are sore, tight or reactive when pressed.
Dry needling and Ashi-point acupuncture come from different treatment frameworks, so I wouldn’t say they are exactly the same thing. But there can be quite a bit of overlap in the areas being treated.
When I palpate, I’m looking for things such as tight or ropey tissue, knots, tenderness, differences between the left and right sides, and how the tissue responds under my hands.
That helps me decide where direct local needling may be useful.
I don’t only treat the sore spot
This is one of the main differences in how I approach pain and muscle tension.
If you come in looking for dry needling, I can absolutely work directly with the muscle that is bothering you.
But I usually won’t stop there.
I may also use acupuncture points elsewhere on the body based on the Traditional Chinese Medicine pattern and the channels involved.
From a TCM perspective, a point doesn’t have to be located directly beside the symptom to be relevant to it. A treatment for neck pain, for example, might include local points around the neck and shoulders along with points on the hands or legs.
The goal is to work directly with the painful area while also considering the broader pattern.
Sometimes the best place to start isn’t where it hurts
If an area is very sensitive or irritated, I may not needle it directly right away. This is especially true when pain travels into an arm, hand, leg or foot.
Instead, I may begin with acupuncture points elsewhere in the body. That can sometimes help the area settle and reduce some of the tension before I work more directly on the painful tissue.
The goal isn’t to do as much local needling as possible. It’s to choose the approach that makes the most sense for how you’re presenting that day.
What does targeted needling feel like?
Different people and different tissues respond differently.
You may feel a dull ache, pressure, heaviness, tingling, warmth, an electrical-type sensation or sometimes a muscle twitch.
If something feels sharp, burning or uncomfortable and doesn’t settle, tell me. I can adjust the needle or simply remove it.
You don’t need to tough out an uncomfortable needle.
So which do I use?
Usually, both approaches can have a place.
I start with a Traditional Chinese Medicine assessment, use palpation to refine what I’m finding, and add targeted local needling when a particular muscle or tender area would benefit from direct treatment.
Some treatments may be more focused on local muscle tension. Others may rely more heavily on systemic or distal acupuncture points.
Most often, I’m combining the two.
So if you found my clinic because you were specifically looking for dry needling, targeted muscle needling is something I can incorporate into treatment, but I’ll usually combine it with a broader acupuncture approach rather than treating the sore spot in isolation.
Ready to get started?
If this sounds like the kind of approach you’re looking for, you can book an initial acupuncture assessment and treatment.
If you still have questions about acupuncture, dry needling or whether my approach makes sense for what you’re dealing with, you can also book a free 15-minute discovery consultation first.