Anyone tried Dry Needling or Acupuncture for Pain or Neuropathy?

Hi, @judypall – I would be curious, too, if trying dry needling or acupuncture for neuropathy made my feet tingle more. Hoping other members can weigh in on the concept of going through a cycle of pain to get better with these therapies. I'd like to invite members who have talked about these modalities for various types of pain on Connect to weigh in on your experiences and these therapies and how they have worked for them, like @scgraham @awag @2011panc @mrhappy @nancgdav.

@judypall, are you scheduled for more of these treatments coming up soon?

I went through 3 months of PT and astym and dry needling were used in the last month. They reduced my pain about 10-15 % and was thankful for that. I heard other patients at the clinic say that dry needling completely cured their hip bursitis. I do not plan to do more PT unless there is a new technique the therapist can try (insurance calling the shots). I am desperate to find anything that might help.

Before I was finally diagnosed with PMR in my hips, I had a course of physical therapy, which included dry needling. It made my hip pain MUCH worse!! However, dry needling worked miracles on a shoulder injury I had last summer.
The ONLY thing I have found (except prednisone) that gives me any relief for my PMR hip pain is high quality CBD lotion. You have to make sure to know how much CBD is in the lotion as some of the stuff on the market is worthless. I am using a lotion that contains 100MG CBD. When I get hip pain in the middle of the night, I rub in some lotion and within 5-10 minutes I am PAIN FREE and can go back to sleep.

Does acupuncture or chiropratic care help peripheral neuropathy?

@20highlander14, My acupuncturist, who seems to be very knowledgeable, says he can help with pain but not fix the root cause which in my case is spinal stenosis.

@20highlander14 Check out the following link… https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/peripheral-neuropathy/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20352067
In that reading from Mayo they do note that Acupuncture could help, while Mayo does not mention Chiropractic.. there are all sorts of Chiropractic websites that say all sorts of things… That is the problem.. Can you believe any of them? . One needs to find Credible tests done in which measurable results can be defined.. My opinion of Chiropractic is not positive.. I live in Iowa where in Davenport, IA there is a bronze plaque that marks where the first Chiropractic adjustment was done to improve the hearing of a patient.. In that town there was/is the Palmer School of Chiropractic.. They owned the Radio Station and they advertised a lot back in my younger years.. K

Hello @20highlander14, I would like to add my welcome to Connect along with @californialen, @ken82 and other members. I feel the same as @ken82 on chiropractors being helpful for neuropathy but that's just my opinion. You may find another discussion on Connect helpful if you have neuropathy caused by nerve compression and spine related issues.

Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR) for treating compression and pain: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/

@greeneyes55, @artscaping and others that have experience with acupuncture may have thoughts or suggestions to share also.

@20highlander14, are you able to share a little more about your neuropathy diagnosis and any tests you've had?

Hi @johnbishop john I am from Pakistan. You guys are lucky to be living in the States. It is a real challenge finding a physiotherapist trained at MFR therapy in countries like mine. Based on MRI reports i was initially told by a Malayasia-based neurologist and subsequently by a Bangkok-based Neurologist in August 2017 that the burning pain and numbness at the bottom of my feet was the result of my lumbar spinal stenosis
triggered by degenerative disc disease until I visited Mayo Clinic in Rochester in June 2018 where they blamed it on small fiber neuropathy despite the fact that all the tests were negative for small fiber neuropathy. That is why they called it idiopathic. So, it would not have harmed me trying MFR therapy for my lumbar, if we had trained MFR experts in Pakistan. I thank you John and everyone in this group for supporting each others and sharing experiences.

Hi @nukhan
You say that "all the tests were negative for small fiber PN". Did you have a skin biopsy of the foot?

Hi @jeffrapp while I had all the blood work, xray, CT scan, nerve conduction, MRI, EMG and bone density, the team at Mayo didn't advise me the Skin biopsy. Based on their experience, they were quite confident that it was small fiber neuropathy.