Get pricked to ease muscle pain? A complimentary treatment called dry needling may work. Though the jury's still out, here's what happens. A physical therapist inserts thin needles with no ...

Dry needling is typically performed by a physical therapist to relieve pain and improve mobility. Needles are stuck into muscular knots, which triggers contraction followed by muscle relaxation.

The magnitude of this improvement was the same for therapeutic and placebo interventions. Resting muscle pain and tightness were unaffected. Conclusions: Neither dry needling nor placebo needling of ...