Dry Needling is Dangerous, Causing Irreversible Damage

Only See Licensed Acupuncturists for acupuncture. Not MD’s, PT’s, OT’s, or OD’s.

The abstract of a case report below does not indicate if ‘dry needling’ a questionable form of acupuncture, which lead to an infection after spine surgery was provided by a physical therapist with minimal education in the state of TN, or a licensed acupuncturist (Lac) with years of education.  I thank the authors for taking the time to write this case report.

Dry needling an acupuncture technique which the authors define “as inserting acupuncture-like needles into a myofascial trigger point to reduce pain and improve motion”.  Unfortunately healthcare providers with minimal education and training in acupuncture are using ‘dry-needling’.  It is important to disclose who provided acupuncture in case reports, was it a physical therapist, a chiropractor, or another provider who obtain their dry-needling training over a weekend, or maximum 300 hours of training?  Licensed acupuncturists (L.Ac.) obtain close to 3000 hours of education.  State regulators must keep an eye on these case reports and restrict the practice of acupuncture accordingly.

Licensed acupuncturists who evaluate and treat children must obtain additional education in pediatric acupuncture.  Licensed acupuncturists who evaluate and treat patients after spine surgery also require additional education and training.  It is never necessary to insert needles near the spine to reduce pain.

Dry-needling is an aggressive form of acupuncture, which requires the use of thicker needles (larger gauge), deep insertion, and aggressive manual stimulation of the needle.  There is never an indication for this form of acupuncture after a spine surgery.

I contacted the authors; they are unaware if a physical therapist provided the ‘dry needling’ in this case reported.

Licensed acupuncturists (LAc)  typically do not advertise the practice of dry needling,  physical therapists (P.T.) typically do.  Acupuncture is regulated at the state level, and state regulators must be diligent to keep patients safe by requiring adequate education, training and licensing.

Abstract (case report is from the state of TN)

Purpose

To report a case of deep infection as a rare complication of acupuncture following posterior spinal fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Study Design

Case report.

Methods

Case report.

Results

“A 15-year-old female presented 21 months after spinal arthrodesis for idiopathic scoliosis with a deep spine infection. The patient had recently been receiving a variation of acupuncture (dry needling therapy) in her medial periscapular region to manage chronic back and shoulder pain. She underwent serial irrigation and debridement with implant removal. Intraoperative cultures revealed pseudomonas and aerobic diptheroids. Two weeks later, the patient developed a periscapular abscess requiring additional operative debridement; cultures from this abscess were negative. After an 8-week course of antibiotics, the patient remains infection free with normalized inflammatory markers 2 years postoperatively.”

Conclusions

“Acupuncture is sometimes pursued as part of a multimodality pain management program for back pain, but it is not without risk and can lead to infection. Deep infection from acupuncture may contaminate existing spinal instrumentation and require operative debridement, implant removal, and long-term antibiotic therapy. Accordingly, there is an increased risk for deformity progression in this scenario related to the implant removal.”

Reference: Callan AK, Bauer JM, Martus JE. Deep Spine Infection After Acupuncture in the Setting of Spinal Instrumentation. Spine Deform. 2016;4(2):156-161. doi:10.1016/j.jspd.2015.09.045

Dry Needling in Tennessee

This case report presents the dangers of inadequate education, training and lack of licensing for acupuncture.   ‘Dry Needling’ is typically used by physical therapist.  Most states do not allow physical therapist to practice dry needling due to patient safety concerns.  Physical therapist do not have adequate education to practice any form of acupuncture.  Licensed acupuncturists are required to complete 3000 hours of education, spend at least one year in clinical residency, and are required to pass a state and/or national board exam (American acupuncutrists have at least 6-8 years of education).