Anyone tried Dry Needling or Acupuncture for Pain or Neuropathy?

Hi Birdman...so funny one of my nicknames is "Bird". Anyhoo, try CBD "cause a Doctor recommended it (not over the counter stuff) from a dispensary if you can!!...it works!
Best wishes!!

@oliviaflickamay
I found your comments about amlodipine very interesting. I've been on a low dose for several months and am now wondering if it might have something to do with my neuropathy which started about 3 months ago. It's certainly something I will look into and discuss with my doctor.
Thank you for letting us know about that connection. How was your blood pressure affected after completely leaving off the amlodopine?

I have had non-diabetic peripheral neuropathy (we suspect a hereditary cause) for the past 3 years. I started acupuncture treatments last November, and although has not alleviated the numbness, it stops the shooting pains in my feet at night when I've walked more than 8K steps in a day. It was like night and day after 2 treatments. Down side was, I started walking more and my knee flared up, decided it was time for total knee replacement - figured I could fix my bent/bone on bone knee, can't fix my numb feet. So, if you have a recommendation for an acupuncturist, you may want to give it a try. It truly is a miracle for me. I have used CBD for my knee, it doesn't touch the nerve pain in my feet, it may for some. My only suggestion is to get the good stuff, don't buy over the counter at a drug store. Best of luck.

Welcome @mntmishy, Thank you for sharing what has given you some relief for your neuropathy. Another good source of information in case you haven't already found it is the Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy.

Living Well with Neuropathy - https://www.foundationforpn.org/living-well/

Do you mind sharing how you found Connect?

It was explained to me that the muscle is in a pain loop by using the needles on those nerves it should break the loop cycle.
Mine came back after a month, not covered by my insurance and I have a muscle spasms disorder so lasting efficacy is harder for me. Tommy at Wentworth Douglass Rehab Services used to do it in the Dover NH area. May be under Mass General by now.

Do you have bad neuropathy?

Hi, yes I’m still doing great. After many years of terrible lower leg pain (only nighttime laying down) that continuously worsened over the few years on Amlodipine). Can’t believe the suffering and lack of sleep for those ongoing years. I’m at 124/76 average with no bp meds. I’m 87 years of age so I have forgiven myself the slight “overage”. My only other meds are to control my occasional adult onset asthma as needed. (Flovent and Albuterol). I wish you luck and best wishes although I may have been an outlier in multianalysis Cochrane study of this questioned response to Amlodipine.❤️

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@oliviaflickamay Thanks so much for answering my question. So glad you are doing so well without the Amlodipine! It's amazing how some drugs can affect us. I'm sorry for all of the suffering you went through while on Amlodipine and very happy you are doing so well without it! Take care!

I know this thread is old and I originally joined this board to relate my experience with scrambler therapy from CNS pain resulting from clinically isolated demyelination syndrome. However, I saw this threat and as I also have had experience with dry needling, I thought I'd chime in.

Several years ago I developed trochanteric bursitis. Three weeks of PT and home exercise did absolutely nothing. My PT suggested dry needling. I am very skeptical of "alternative therapies" but he talked me into trying it.

I got on the table. He inserted the needles, waited about 15 min, removed them. I got up off the table. The pain was gone. The pain NEVER returned. Not even a little bit.

Several years later, before my CNS pain was diagnosed, and I was desperate for relief, I tried accupuncture (which is something I put in the category of "woo" - it is the same physical process as dry needling but the needles are placed on some imaginary meridians and energy lines). The doctor apparently managed to find an energy line that was right at the site of what I later learned was a demyelination lesion. It hurt like hell but he had left the room and there was no way to get him or a nurse back short of screaming. I thought it was incredibly irresponsible for him to have done this without getting an MRI (considering my symptoms and history) and even more irresponsible for him to leave the room w/out giving the patient any means of getting help.

And this guy is an MD who is one of the best-known accupuncturists in the U.S.

So while I do recommend dry needling, I recommend avoiding accupuncture. In my view, whatever relief people get from accupunture is entirely placebo effect.

I had done acupuncture and I loved it. I had it done on my back for around 6 weeks or so. I would do it again
If I could afford it I would have it done again. The problem with this is a person would have to do it for the rest of their life. I found that it worked for me. Everyone is different.