Dry needling is a form of therapy in which fine needles are inserted into myofascial trigger points
(painful knots in muscles), tendons, ligaments, or near nerves in order to stimulate a healing response in
painful musculoskeletal conditions. Dry needling is not acupuncture or Oriental Medicine; that is, it does
not have the purpose of altering the flow of energy (“Qi”) along traditional Chinese meridians for the
treatment of diseases. In fact, dry needling is a modern, science-based intervention for the treatment of
pain and dysfunction in musculoskeletal conditions such as neck pain, shoulder impingement, tennis
elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, headaches, knee pain, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, or low-back pain.

Drowsiness, tiredness or dizziness occurs after treatment in a small number of patients (1-3%) and if
affected, you are advised not to drive. Minor bleeding or bruising occurs after dry needling in 15-20% of
treatments and is considered normal. Temporary pain during dry needling occurs in 60-70% of
treatments. Existing symptoms can get worse after treatment (less than 3% of patients); however, this is
not necessarily a “bad” sign. Fainting can occur in certain patients (0.3%), particularly at the first
treatment session when needling the head or neck regions. Dry needling is very safe; however, serious
side effects can occur in less than 1 per 10,000 (less than 0.01%) treatments. The most common serious
side effect from dry needling is pneumothorax (lung collapse due to air inside the chest wall). The
symptoms of dry needling-induced pneumothorax commonly do not occur until after the treatment
session, sometimes taking several hours to develop. The signs and symptoms of a pneumothorax may
include shortness of breath on exertion, increased breathing rate, chest pain, a dry cough, bluish
discoloration of the skin, or excessive sweating. If such signs and/or symptoms occur, you should
immediately contact your physical therapist or physician. Nerves or blood vessels may be damaged from
dry needling which can result in pain, numbness or tingling; however, this is a very rare event and is
usually temporary. Infection (1 per 66,000) or damage to internal organs (1 per 200,000) has been
reported in the medical literature following needling, however, these are extremely rare events.