Acupuncture - Traditional Chinese Medical

Acupuncture is an ancient system of healing, which has been practiced in China and the East for thousands of years. As well as being an effective means of pain relief, Acupuncture is used to treat a wide range of illnesses and complaints. It is safe way to help with various specific symptoms or conditions including anxiety states, arthritis, asthma, back pain, depression, digestive orders, menstrual problems, migraines, skin conditions and many more.

Acupuncture - Western Medical

Medical or Western Acupuncture, also known as Dry Needling, is a western adaptation of traditional acupuncture. It is practiced predominantly by doctors, physiotherapists, osteopaths & chiropractors and uses a more limited range of acupuncture techniques on the basis of a western medical diagnosis.

It is not one of the various forms Traditional Oriental acupuncture and should not be confused as such!

Dry Needling is based on anatomy, physiology and western scientific findings, such as, reduction in excess muscle tension/spasm, stimulating the release of the body's natural pain killing hormones (endorphins), etc.

Mostly you will find that those acupuncturists that practice western acupuncture have some sort of medical qualification and have studied it as a post graduate qualification over relatively short courses. A great number of GPs in the UK have attended courses on this, but it seems relatively few use it in their day to day practice. I can only hazard a guess that time constraints is the cause of this or perhaps they have not been able to pursue it long enough to reap the benefits. Also, in General Practice I imagine it would be largely used for simple pain relief, which more often than not is relatively short lived. Commonly a few hours to a few days. That said, if this enables the patient to get the painful area/joint moving, thus reducing the local inflammation, then that may be enough to get them on the road to recovery.