Dry Needling in Gunnison & Crested Butte

Dry Needling

Originating in ancient China, acupuncture is a surgical operation in which an acupuncture point (a specific muscle or connective tissue site) is punctured with an acupuncture needle (a fine needle of up to six inches in length) to cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent disease or other conditions. Acupuncture is based on anatomy, physiology, and pathology.

Dry needling is acupuncture in which an acupuncture point that has become exquisitely tender, commonly known in the West as a trigger point, is punctured with an acupuncture needle to cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent disease or other conditions, especially musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders, including musculoskeletal pain. An acupuncture point that has become exquisitely tender is identified by a flinch reaction on palpation.

Dry needling is not new. It was described in the first century BCE in the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic (黃帝內經 [Huáng Dì nèi jīng]), the foundational text of Chinese medicine.

Dry needling is unsafe when performed by unqualified practitioners of acupuncture. 

To report a serious adverse event caused by an unqualified practitioner of acupuncture performing dry needling, use the Dry Needling Adverse Event Reporting System (DNAERS) form. The National Center for Acupuncture Safety and Integrity (NCASI) will use the information as part of our legislative and administrative advocacy work.

For references and more information, please visit www.acupuncturesafety.org