The Difference Between Dry and Wet Needle Acupuncture

Huisheng Xie, DVM, PhD, clinical professor of small animal clinical science at the University of Florida and founder of the Chi Institute of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, explains the meaning of dry needle acupuncture compared with wet needle acupuncture.

“Dry needle, basically, uses the fine needle to stimulate an acupuncture point is the very traditional way to do acupuncture. Why it’s called dry needle is just the first, the ancient, name. Another ancient technique is called the bleeding technique, so, on purpose, you’re bleeding the point, it actually bleeds out, so it’s called the blood or wet acupuncture. So when the needle sticks out and there's no blood it must be dry.

What’s different? This is just one acupuncture technique. Most commonly the dry or conventional technique is very popular and used in veterinary medicine.”