Difference between dry needling and acupuncture?

Update: 2025-11-04

Description

If you've seen a physiotherapist, you might’ve undergone needling with the promise it will reduce your pain.

Did you receive dry needling or acupuncture? How can you tell the difference between the two?

Norman and Tegan poke through the evidence to find out how effective these techniques can be.

References:

Similarities between Ashi acupoints and myofascial trigger points: Exploring the relationship between body surface treatment points
Dry Needling versus Acupuncture: The Ongoing Debate
Acupuncture: Past, Present, and Future
Clinical Effectiveness of Dry Needling in Patients with Musculoskeletal Pain—An Umbrella Review
Methodological challenges in design and conduct of randomised controlled trials in acupuncture
Needling Point Location Used in Sham Acupuncture for Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis
Comparison of dry needling and trigger point manual therapy in patients with neck and upper back myofascial pain syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Acupuncture for Chronic Pain: Individual Patient Data Meta-analysis
Acupuncture for musculoskeletal pain: A meta-analysis and meta-regression of sham-controlled randomized clinical trials
Magic tricks are helping scientists understand the placebo effect and pain - ABC News