Exploring Different Acupuncture Needling Styles

In acupuncture there are many different styles of needling, in a way of getting to the “point”. The Body has different terrains and with each body part there maybe a different approach to obtaining a point.
Normally using differential diagnosis and palpation, the area to be needled is selected by determining an affected meridian or channel. Points are then chosen for the effective qualities.

The diagnosis, leads the practitioner as to how to balance the body to best elicit a beneficial systemic effect for the patient.

An overall pattern would point to the particular areas of the body that would need to be palpated. The practitioner would then palpate the areas and choose the most “active” points or the “weakest” points on the necessary channels to needle. Needling would then be stimulated according to whether the point would need to be activated or reduced. There are also other ways of stimulating points according to pattern and diagnosis.

Chinese Acupuncture, prefers aggressive needling with deeper needling and stimulation. The clients is listened to as the direction of the qi may be stimulated.

Japanese acupuncture is only done shallowly. The least amount of points are used. In some particular styles, the needle sometimes doesn’t even penetrate the skin, but instead is held over the point to create a connection. The idea behind this is that less is more. The pattern is more important to treat than the symptoms. Likewise, active points are stimulated toward dispersion, and weak points are stimulated toward tonification. In this way the channels of the body are balanced.

Western needling has taken away the idea of active points, and weak points. Using muscular physiology, it chooses areas of expressed symptoms to relieve pain, and trigger biochemical effects. The areas are usually bone and muscle junctures, as well as nerve innervations, or simply areas of pain. There are no particular point usage quality. Muscular testing is done to choose where mobility is hindered, so as to pick the right area that may free that mobility.

Trigger point therapy come out of the pain referral areas. Targeted muscle groups in the shoulder as well as in the back would be used to relieve neck pain for example. The active place to be needled would be the most tender areas to touch. Saline injections at the site are used to break apart trigger point masses but now simple “dry needling” is done to the area (dry- no injection of wet substance).

Motor point needling is done in muscular innervations where the nerve and muscle meet. This usual outcome is a muscle spasm or jump. The needle insertion causes a muscular contraction releasing the muscle. This would relieve tension and restore function.
In my practice, all styles are used depending on the pattern and need.