Dry Needling Produces Mild Injuries Irrespective to Muscle Stiffness and Tension in Ex Vivo Mice Muscles

Figure 4

Scanning electron microscopy: examples of ex vivo dry needling in gastrocnemius muscle. The samples were processed without using collagenase. For this reason, the muscle fibers are mostly covered by endomysium and perimysium. This situation is especially evident in (a), where the needle punches the endomysium and perimysium. (b) A few injured muscle fibers are shown (white circle). Immediately below these, the fibers are unchanged. When the needle is removed, the muscle fibers return to its original position and the hole is almost closed (c), (d). Brackets, healthy muscle fibers. (e) Example of the tips of the needles used in DN.

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