Acupuncture can be very effective for the treatment of sports and other activity related injuries. Even western medicine has begun to recognize the\u00a0benefits\u00a0of “dry needling” for the treatment of sports injuries and pain. Dry needling is the practice of needling motor points with a “dry” (non-hypodermic)\u00a0needle. In fact many states now allow physical therapists to practice “dry needling” because of it’s powerful\u00a0benefits.[1]<\/p>\n
Acupuncturists\u00a0have known the\u00a0benefits\u00a0of this treatment strategy for thousands of years. Defined in the West as;\u00a0hyper-irritable\u00a0spots in skeletal muscle that are painful upon deep palpation and give rise to referred pain and motor dysfunction, found in palpable, taut bands of skeletal muscle, extremely sensitive, motor points have been known in the east for centuries and were referred to in the classical text books as Ashir points.[2]<\/p>\n
The\u00a0benefits\u00a0of needling these points include…<\/strong><\/p>\n Electro\u00a0Acupuncture\u00a0was developed in China around 1934 and works similar to TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) therapy. Which is the practice of placing conductive pads on the skin to deliver\u00a0a mild electrical current trasnscutaneously to the nerve fibers. Electro Acupuncture more correctly called Percutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation works in the same way however the electrical current is delivered through the acupuncture needles. Allowing the effect to reach much deeper into the tissues and specifically target muscles or anatomy of the body.<\/p>\n The benefits of Electo\u00a0Acupuncture\u00a0are…<\/strong><\/p>\n There are many, many more\u00a0acupuncture\u00a0techniques which can be useful in the treatment of sports injuries and that can helpful to those in the Sports Medicine field that I hope to write about in the future.<\/p>\n [1] Dommerholt,\u00a0Jan. Dry Needling in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Practice<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0Orthopaedic Pracitice Vol. 16;3:04<\/p>\n\n
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