Acupuncture & Dry Needling/IMS

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is the procedure of inserting and manipulating fine needles into specific points on the body to relieve pain or for therapeutic purposes.

The word acupuncture comes from the Latin acus, "needle", and pungere, "to prick". If you are using the traditional Chinese medicine approach, acupuncture points are situated on meridians along which qi (a "life energy"), flows.

Dry Needling or Intramuscular Stimulation - IMS

Dry Neeling or IMS or Intramuscular Stimulation, is a needle technique that has been used in Canada and Sweden for many years. Instead of the "chi" energy and meridian lines of traditional Chinese acupuncture, it is concerned with the musculoskeletal system. The technique was developed in the 1970's by the Canadian professor Dr. Chann Gunn.

Whatever the nature of chronic pain, physiotherapists induce relaxation in a muscle by tightening it and then letting go. The advantage with the needling is that it can go deep into the body sometimes several inches to hit the right spot. A knotted muscle will "grab" the needle and after a while "let go" and carry on relaxing after the needle has been removed. This can reset a hyperactive nervous system which causes increased tone and muscle banding in the musculoskeletal system.