Dry Needling Part 2: How "Dry Needling" got it's name?

In a nutshell....

The founders of trigger point therapy in America were Drs. Travell and Simons.  She was President Kennedy's physician. She and her associates started noticing pain associated with sensitive points in the body.  They eventually came up with trigger point therapy after manual stimulation of the painful points in the body.  Initially they injected lidocaine into points.  However, after awhile they started injecting saline solution into the points and continued to see results. To see what would happen they began puncturing the trigger point using a needle without any lidocaine or saline solution.  Dr. Travell still achieved results in managing the pain of their patients.  The needle was used dry and thus "dry needling" was born in America.  

Next installment..."What is a tender point?  How does it relate to acupuncture?"

Acupuncture Sports Medicine Story

Acupuncture and Sports Medicine
Really interesting story on the Texas Rangers use of Acupuncture.

Dry Needling in Memphis

The scoop on "Dry Needling".

Let me set the record straight...the core issue is a political one regarding laws and the scope of practice of physical therapists.  By calling the practice of putting an acupuncture needle into the body to bring about a therapeutic result something other than acupuncture, physical therapists can now go through the legal process to add "dry needling" to their scope of practice.  Period. End of story.  All other debates as to whether dry needling is different from acupuncture are hair splitting affairs done by people with little knowledge of the subject.

Many of my patients at Acupuncture and Healing Arts Medical Group have asked me about dry needling.  They want to know what the differences are and if it is the same as acupuncture.  The short answer is that dry needling is really just a basic form of acupuncture.  A senior acupuncturist, Mark Seem, has been teaching this form of acupuncture including the muscle twitch response for probably 15 years.  In fact he wrote a book entitled Acupuncture Physical Medicine that I have read many many times.  He thoroughly researched the roots of Travel and Simons work on tender points and developed an integrated model of treatment with acupuncture long before PT's thought about Dry Needling. It is not a new form of physical therapy. An acupuncturist can dry needle but dry needling does not fully represent the strength of acupuncture as a whole.

Unlike my colleagues, I have no beef with physical therapists practicing dry needling in the context of physical therapy.  They have training in a very limited use of acupuncture. Most PT's are extremely knowledgeable, compassionate and professional.  I do not see them as competition. I find that I receive patients who have had dry needling for pain management from a PT and then want to explore other uses of this ancient and comprehensive modality.  The difference is that they have received limited training to use on a very specific pattern of disharmony in the body. Whereas an acupuncturist receives comprehensive training that address a wide variety of health issues other than just pain.


With in the next few days I will write a follow up post giving a brief history on dry needling and how it came by it's name.

New Owner of Acupuncture and Healing Arts Medical Group

WOW!!!
It has almost been a year since I bought Acupuncture and Healing Arts Medical Group. I can't believe how fast this last year has gone.  The transition from independent contractor to business owner has been a real challenge.  A whole set of skills had to be learned.  Dare I say ... that I did make some expensive mistakes but after a year I am starting to get the hang of things.

We made a ton of changes to the clinic.  The office was professionally painted. The concrete floors were stripped and restrained.  They came out amazing.   Our herb pharmacy was relocated into the front office where people check in and out.  Please check out our awesome new website ww.acupuncturememphis.com.

Our massage therapist, Jeanne, got a brand new room with more space.

I am proud to say that we did not lose any staff in the transition.  Our front office staff is really doing well these days.  We currently have Sandy, Carrie, Bunny and Candace keeping everything running. Don't know what I would do without them.

Future improvements include implementing online scheduling to make it easier for our patients to book appointments when we are not in the office.  We do have it set up that you need to call us if the change is within 24 hours.  That should be going live within a week or two.
I have a contract ready to make a custom carved crystal sign for the front office.  It is going to look amazing in the waiting room.  Other upgrades include replacing the waiting room furniture by the end of the year.

I love the challenges of running the office as well as seeing patients.

Please come by to say hello to see the place if you haven't been here in awhile.  We would love to see you.

Acupuncture and Migraines

There is absolutely no need to suffer from migraines.  Odds are if you are reading this post you know the signs and are looking for relief.  Acupuncture can help many people with this type of headache as well as tension headaches and sinus pain.

Please take a look at this article found at WebMD that states that traditional acupuncture provides long term relief from chronic migraines.

Give me a call at the office (901 763-0909) to schedule an appointment if you would like some help. 

The Importance and Function of Fiber in the Diet

1. Fiber stimulates chewing which in turn eventually stimulates gastric secretions.
2. It's bulk provides a sense of fullness in the stomach.
3. Fiber decreases intraluminal colonic pressure by increasing the volume of stools.
4. Fiber dilutes the intestinal contents which dilutes endotoxins in the bowel.
5. Fiber decreases Bowel Transit Time which also reduces the exposure time to endotoxins.
6. Fiber slows the absorption of glucose.
7. Fiber increases the excretion of endogenous estrogens by binding them and allowing the body to excrete them in stools.

Source: Medical Nutrition From Marz.

What does acupuncture feel like? Does it hurt?

The level of discomfort from acupuncture is minimal.  It ranges from no pain at all to the type of pain you might feel from a mosquito.  Very occasionally it will feel worse than that.  Once the needles are in the patient feels a pleasant state of euphoria and often fall asleep.
Here is a vid of a patient getting some acupuncture: