Design and testing the validity of an inexpensive and accessible sham dry needling protocol

Objective: To use a simple method of needle blunting to produce a placebo dry needling protocol which is indistinguishable from the sensations felt during therapeutic dry needling. Methods: A randomised cross-over design was used to compare the perception of needle skin penetration, pain experienced and types of sensations experienced following a single placebo dry needling and a single therapeutic dry needling application. Results: There were no significant differences in the proportions of patients reported ability to perceive needle penetration (p = 0.646), description of needling sensations (p = 0.3) or pain rating (p = 0.405) when comparing placebo needling to therapeutic dry needling. Conclusion: Needle tip bending creates a simple, cost-effective and effective placebo needle for use in comparisons with therapeutic dry needling. This offers researchers a viable alternative to expensive and inappropriate acupuncture sham devices when conducting dry needling trials.