To answer that question, we first need a quick recap on what the differences are between the two. To understand it more thoroughly, click here then come back when you’re done.

Dry Needling is the insertion of a filiform needle into a trigger point done by a physical therapist.

Acupuncture is the insertion of a filiform needle into an acupuncture point, an ashi point (any painful tender area on the body), a trigger point, a motor point or fascia (connective tissue) done by a licensed acupuncturist.

Physical therapists typically take a weekend crash course in how to needle.

Acupuncturists invest years and thousands of hours in understanding the how and why a patient should be needled and where.

Physical therapists are western medicine practitioners and therefore see the body as chopped up. For example, if a patient has pain on one side of their neck, they’ll stick to treating that side of the neck.

An acupuncturist understands the body as a holistic system and takes your entire body and emotional state as one.

Physical therapists are specialists in pain and some even go further into a niche like pelvic floor pain.

Acupuncturists, for the most part, can treat just about anything that walks in the door from concussions, to headaches and tmj, the side effects of strokes, to mystery nausea that no doctor can diagnose to pelvic instability causing knee pain or an inability to fully perform a squat to toe pain AND they can work on such things as panic attacks, anxiety, insomnia, depression, acid reflux, gerd, infertility, pms, etc. The reason why we can do this goes back to how Eastern medicine sees the body as a whole- mind, body and spirit.

CASE STUDY

I had a patient message me through Yelp. She lived in Colorado and was in NYC for work. She was 29, very petite and said that her sinuses were so clogged that she was scared to get on a plane for fear that she would burst an ear drum. She said even taking the elevator to her office was painful and she had to return to Colorado the next day.

I thought how bad could it be?

Well, she came in and I could immediately see how swollen her sinuses were, even her eyes were swollen. I asked her to lie down so I could assess her and when I pressed my finger in between her nose and cheekbone, it was crazy how deep I sunk in! She had so much fluid buildup it felt squishy.

I asked her for some background info because the second thing I noticed was how tight and off center her neck was. It turns out she was in a car accident a year earlier, she injured her left shoulder and she had gotten Dry Needling (remember, this is the needling done by physical therapists) at her physical therapist’s office. When I asked her if they had treated her neck and both shoulders at the PT office she said no, they only treated the left one.

Pay attention because here comes the answer to the question “which is better…?”

Now, I as an acupuncturist, a healthcare practitioner who sees the body as whole, recognized that because only her left shoulder had been treated that she wasn’t properly treated after her accident.

It jumped out at me immediately that because her neck was still in this holding pattern (“holding pattern” meaning that it’s still holding onto the tension and dysfunction of the accident) that her head wasn’t in the proper alignment so that her sinuses could drain properly. I couldn’t just treat her sinuses and ignore the neck, shoulders and upper back muscles (everything is connected!) If I had just treated her sinuses and ignored the obvious neck and shoulders issue, the sinus problem would have continued.

I treated all the trigger points and did some electro-acupuncture first, then did a few traditional acupuncture points for the sinuses and followed that up with some lymphatic drainage. None of which she would have gotten at the PT.

We should note that after treating her neck and upper back muscles first, I had her turn face up again and her sinuses were already draining better! I knew I was on the right track by treating her injuries first.

When I finished the lymphatic drainage massage, she looked at herself in the mirror, and had the biggest smile. She said she had always had sinus issues and had an allergist she went to but ever since her accident, the sinus issue was the worst it had ever been. It took someone recognizing that her sinus issue wasn’t just a sinus drainage problem, it was a neck and upper body problem too.

Now, dear reader, I ask you…which do you think is better?

I don’t like absolutes when it comes to healthcare. I’m not trying to convince you to abandon all other forms of healing in preference for mine, I just hope that it’s getting through to you that acupuncture is a non negotiable part of the healing process when it comes to pain.

Any and all kinds of needling is the purview of licensed and properly trained acupuncturists not physical therapists. I’ve sent patients to get PT when I see a pattern that is happening over and over again and where the physical therapist’s work shines- in working with patients to correct movement patterns.

Let’s go over one more example to help you decide which is better.

CASE STUDY

32, Male, 6’5 professional athlete from California.

He came in for a back pain issue once he found out that I knew how to Dry Needle. (to me, dry needle is acupuncture but that’s semantics, let’s continue) He usually gets dry needling done by his physical therapist in LA but with a flight coming up, his back was hurting and he wanted some relief before the flight.

I recognized that he had some muscles that weren’t firing correctly around his pelvis and core. I treated the motor points to get those under-functioning muscles firing again, along with some traditional acupuncture, a little trigger point work and some cupping.

When I finished he said he felt great, then said what i’ve heard over and over again by people who have had dry needling by a physical therapist.