Re: More dry needling vs. acupuncture info....

[Guest guest]

good reporting, Tim. I guess we have to tell it to the judges. The last idea re fedreral contract law is also very interesting.

Kahn DC Eugene

From: dr_tim_irving_dc <tirving@...> Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2012 6:17 PMSubject: More dry needling vs. acupuncture info....

Here are some other points in Jan's response to a PT article about dry needling and acupuncture:2. Physical therapists and other healthcare providers may have contributed to the opposition to dry needling by non-acupuncturists by stating that "dry needling is not acupuncture". Although every acupuncturist who has attended dry needling courses with Myopain Seminars confirms that they have never before been introduced to the concepts and techniques of dry needling, acupuncturists who have not attended dry needling courses erroneously believe that dry needling is nothing but a sub-system of acupuncture. It is true that dry needling is in the scope of acupuncture, but historically dry needling grew out of the practice of trigger point injections and does not require any knowledge of the theoretical foundations of traditional or modern acupuncture practice. Of interest is that the Task Force of Inter-Professional Standards of the American

Association for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) concluded that "it is well established that Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine consists of physiological paradigms, diagnostic methods, and treatment applications that are distinctly independent and different from western medicine".3. When acupuncturists maintain that dry needling is nothing new and just a subsystem of acupuncture, they seem to deny the notion of original thought in the Western world. It is a fact that many different varieties of acupuncture have been developed in different countries. The concepts of trigger points and dry needling were developed independently of already existing acupuncture concepts. A comparison with Traditional Chinese Music may illustrate this. Traditional Chinese Medicine dates back to the same ancient times as Traditional Chinese Music. Some 3,000 years ago, pure instrumental Chinese music already existed and served as a medium of communication with

heaven within the context of a spiritual connection between heaven and the human realm. Many musical instruments were developed in ancient China, such as the pipa, which has similarities with the lute, the horse-headed fiddle, which is a Mongolian bowed string instrument, and the erhu, a two-stringed instrument still used today in Chinese opera. There is evidence that Marco Polo (about 1254 to 1324 CE) brought Chinese instruments back to Europe. If we consider the influence of Traditional Chinese Music on Western musical developments and apply the same kind of arguments used by acupuncturists, that dry needling is nothing but a subsystem of acupuncture, it would follow that European composers did little more than redefine and repackage Traditional Chinese Music. In other words, Bach, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Mozart, and Beethoven composed Chinese music. Violin builders in Cremona, Italy, such as Amati and Stradivari, apparently just redefined

the concepts of the horse-headed fiddle brought to Europe by Marco Polo, making the violin nothing but a new name for an ancient Chinese instrument. Just like original thought in the Western world with respect to the development of myofascial pain concepts, trigger points, and dry needling is not really appreciated by certain acupuncture groups, original Western music would become a subsystem of Traditional Chinese Music. Critics of classical music would likely postulate that classical music is just a pseudonym for the practice of Traditional Chinese Music.4. There is no evidence that serious adverse reactions to dry needling are common; dry needling is a safe technique when practiced by trained healthcare providers with no significant risk to the public. The US Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy's Examination, Licensure, and Disciplinary Database (ELDD) has no entries in any jurisdiction or discipline for harm caused by dry needling

performed by physical therapists. When the land Board of Acupuncture challenged the land Board of Physical Therapy Examiners, dry needling had been practiced by physical therapists in that state for twenty years without any complaint filed with the physical therapy board. Thousands of physical therapists in many countries around the world have used trigger point dry needling for many years without any documented serious health hazards. Acupuncture organizations have gone to great lengths to argue their point. In 2010, the American Association for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) revealed that its Task Force of Inter-Professional Standards had contracted a malpractice insurance company to stop coverage of physical therapists who use dry needling in their practices. In response, the insurance company issued a change in policy to "not provide malpractice insurance to any physical therapist who inserts needles and/or utilizes the technique

of dry needling". The exact same letter was sent again when chiropractors approved dry needling in Oregon from a different insurance carrier under the same corporate umbrella. Fact is that by contacting the insurance carrier, the AAAOM may have engaged in "tortious interference with contract of business expectancy", which occurs when an entity intentionally damages the contractual or other business relationship with a third party. A contract between a healthcare provider and a malpractice insurance carrier is protected by US contract law, which recognizes that vital interests, rights and obligations are worthy of protection.