Acupuncture refers to the insertion of fine, solid needles into any part of the body for pain relief, healing and general well-being. It has been widely used by Chinese people for over 3000 years.

At Fusion Physio Ahuriri, we practice Western Acupuncture and Dry Needling:

Western Acupuncture utilises meridian points as in Traditional Chinese Acupuncture but applies it to Western scientific reasoning. It does not utilise any traditional Chinese assessment methods or paradigms. The practitioner uses their anatomical knowledge of the body to select acupuncture points that stimulate nerve endings which will help to relieve pain and promote healing.  This is achieved via the stimulation of the nervous system to produce the body’s own pain relieving neuro-chemicals which can also improve sleep and general well-being. There can also be local anti-inflammatory effects.  This can be used as a precursor for other manual or manipulative therapy or home exercise programmes.  Disposable, single use, pre-sterilised needles of varying widths and lengths will be used. These are typically left in place for up to 30 minutes before being removed depending on the response required. A needle is manipulated until a QI sensation is felt (a tingling or often warm heavy sensation that can spread away from the area of the needle).

Dry Needling/Trigger Point Acupuncture is rapid short- term needling to dysfunctional tissues to improve or restore function. An acupuncture needle is placed into the trigger point in the affected muscle until a twitch is felt, aiming to reproduce the patient’s symptoms.  More than one trigger point may be needled in a session and the needles are generally not left in place. The muscle may then be stretched to improve the length of the muscle.  Heat or ice packs may also be applied after treatment to help relieve post-treatment soreness.  As this is a very strong stimulation of the nerve endings, the patient will usually feel a very strong aching sensation and may also feel the twitch response as the trigger point is needled during the treatment. This will sometimes cause post-treatment aching which can continue for up to 48 hours afterwards.