Dry needling is a myofascial trigger point practice that involves the insertion of needles into injured and sore muscles. The muscle twitches then relaxes, decreasing pain. Dry needling and acupuncture look fairly similar in practice, but not in the theory behind them. Acupuncturists insert needles into specific point in the body along energy pathways, these needles then stimulate a healing response in an area of the body associated with the point.
Read the whole article on Well + Good here: http://wellandgood.com/2015/05/11/dry-needling-safety-acupuncture/