For the pain doctor you have no better friend than MFTrPDN technique. I have seen many miraculous events with adjusting, but I have seen many more occur with this technique.

• Acute cases have resolved in record time, moving onto stabilization that much faster.
• Chronic cases that in the past would have walked out the door of my practice to go to pain management physicians have stayed.
• The need to refer for trigger injections and epidurals has gone way down.

While it is true that we have many approaches to treating the soft tissue system, none is easier on both the patient and doctor than this one. Why, you might ask, is this the case?

Benefits

All soft tissue techniques whether purely manual or instrument-assisted work from the outside in with a good deal of labor and stress on the practitioner and a good deal of groaning from the patient. I understand that to some the idea of penetrating the tissue with a hair thin needle seems more traumatic than the other soft tissue techniques you use, but in reality it is more humane, more comfortable, and actually easier for the patient to tolerate and better yet, easier for you to administer. It takes no more time than any other passive set up and can be co-administered with many other passive modalities such as electrical modalities, diathermy, infra-red etc.

The clinical benefits for the patient are immense but the personal ones for you are even better. Less fatigue at the end of the day and more energy for yourself and loved ones. After 23 years I can tell you it makes a difference. Although older doctors are the ones really loving this technique (they are adding years to their practice life) I suspect that younger practitioners will benefit from this progressive clinical tool as well. One last perk of owning this technique is that when you get in trouble and cannot get to a colleague you can self treat any area that you can reach and I can tell you it has come in handy on many occasions.

This approach will help increase your practice bottom line both directly and indirectly. For the cash practice or global fee type practice this technique is ideal because it is so efficient. Your interest in managing resources for a single fee will benefit from this approach. While there is no dedicated CPT code at this time this is a service that has value added appeal.

This technique has broad application throughout the body, has fewer contraindications than many of the current technologies and can be used with fracture patients, cancer patients, osteoporotic patients and patients with implanted electrical devices. If you are a new practitioner and limited in capital or are older and do not want to invest now in expensive technologies here is another good reason to adopt this technique. I think the only people who should not consider this technique are ones that never have a patient take off an article of clothing for treatment and those that do not tolerate change very well because this technique will change your life forever.

If you want to know more about whether you can do this in your state or whether your state should allow but is not, or want to discuss it further send an e-mail to or visit the website at www.dryneedlinginstitute.com.

(Editor's Note: For further discussion on the use of needling and training options, including acupuncture, see the DCPI September 2011 edition.)

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Dr. David B. Fishkin, the founder and director of the Dry Needling Institute, has been in practice since 1988, an NYCC graduate and has been developing and applying this technique since 1998. Dr. Fishkin also has been active nationally educating various state chiropractic associations as well as state regulatory agencies about this technique and how it fits into the scope of practice in those states of which 16 currently accept it.