More dry needling vs. acupuncture info....

[Guest guest]

Here are some other points in Jan's response to a PT article about dry needling

and acupuncture:

2. Physical therapists and other healthcare providers may have contributed to

the opposition to dry needling by non-acupuncturists by stating that " dry

needling is not acupuncture " . Although every acupuncturist who has attended dry

needling courses with Myopain Seminars confirms that they have never before been

introduced to the concepts and techniques of dry needling, acupuncturists who

have not attended dry needling courses erroneously believe that dry needling is

nothing but a sub-system of acupuncture. It is true that dry needling is in the

scope of acupuncture, but historically dry needling grew out of the practice of

trigger point injections and does not require any knowledge of the theoretical

foundations of traditional or modern acupuncture practice. Of interest is that

the Task Force of Inter-Professional Standards of the American Association for

Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) concluded that " it is well established

that Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine consists of physiological paradigms,

diagnostic methods, and treatment applications that are distinctly independent

and different from western medicine " .

3. When acupuncturists maintain that dry needling is nothing new and just a

subsystem of acupuncture, they seem to deny the notion of original thought in

the Western world. It is a fact that many different varieties of acupuncture

have been developed in different countries. The concepts of trigger points and

dry needling were developed independently of already existing acupuncture

concepts. A comparison with Traditional Chinese Music may illustrate this.

Traditional Chinese Medicine dates back to the same ancient times as Traditional

Chinese Music. Some 3,000 years ago, pure instrumental Chinese music already

existed and served as a medium of communication with heaven within the context

of a spiritual connection between heaven and the human realm. Many musical

instruments were developed in ancient China, such as the pipa, which has

similarities with the lute, the horse-headed fiddle, which is a Mongolian bowed

string instrument, and the erhu, a two-stringed instrument still used today in

Chinese opera. There is evidence that Marco Polo (about 1254 to 1324 CE) brought

Chinese instruments back to Europe. If we consider the influence of Traditional

Chinese Music on Western musical developments and apply the same kind of

arguments used by acupuncturists, that dry needling is nothing but a subsystem

of acupuncture, it would follow that European composers did little more than

redefine and repackage Traditional Chinese Music. In other words, Bach,

Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Mozart, and Beethoven composed Chinese music. Violin

builders in Cremona, Italy, such as Amati and Stradivari,

apparently just redefined the concepts of the horse-headed fiddle brought to

Europe by Marco Polo, making the violin nothing but a new name for an ancient

Chinese instrument. Just like original thought in the Western world with respect

to the development of myofascial pain concepts, trigger points, and dry needling

is not really appreciated by certain acupuncture groups, original Western music

would become a subsystem of Traditional Chinese Music. Critics of classical

music would likely postulate that classical music is just a pseudonym for the

practice of Traditional Chinese Music.

4. There is no evidence that serious adverse reactions to dry needling are

common; dry needling is a safe technique when practiced by trained healthcare

providers with no significant risk to the public. The US Federation of State

Boards of Physical Therapy's Examination, Licensure, and Disciplinary Database

(ELDD) has no entries in any jurisdiction or discipline for harm caused by dry

needling performed by physical therapists. When the land Board of

Acupuncture challenged the land Board of Physical Therapy Examiners, dry

needling had been practiced by physical therapists in that state for twenty

years without any complaint filed with the physical therapy board. Thousands of

physical therapists in many countries around the world have used trigger point

dry needling for many years without any documented serious health hazards.

Acupuncture organizations have gone to great lengths to argue their point. In

2010, the American Association for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM)

revealed that its Task Force of Inter-Professional Standards had contracted a

malpractice insurance company to stop coverage of physical therapists who use

dry needling in their practices. In response, the insurance company issued a

change in policy to " not provide malpractice insurance to any physical therapist

who inserts needles and/or utilizes the technique of dry needling " . The exact

same letter was sent again when chiropractors approved dry needling in Oregon

from a different insurance carrier under the same corporate umbrella. Fact is

that by contacting the insurance carrier, the AAAOM may have engaged in

" tortious interference with contract of business expectancy " , which occurs when

an entity intentionally damages the contractual or other business relationship

with a third party. A contract between a healthcare provider and a malpractice

insurance carrier is protected by US contract law, which recognizes that vital

interests, rights and obligations are worthy of protection.