Dry Needling vs. Acupuncture: What’s Actually Different
Same thin needle, completely different purpose. I break down what each one does and why it matters for your pain.
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Physical Therapy Insights from Dr. Birikov
Most PT content online is written by people who have never treated a patient. This is different. Every article here comes from what I actually see and treat in the clinic, after 10 years and 300+ five-star reviews. No fluff, no recycled blog filler. Just what works and why.
Written by Dr. Maksim Birikov
Founder & sole practitioner, Physica Medica. 10 years in practice. Every article authored by the clinician who treats you, not a content team.
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Browse by Topic
Organized around the problem you are trying to solve, not by technique. Find everything relevant to your pain in one place.
Pain & Recovery
Back pain, sciatica, chronic pain: why it persists and what resolves it.
Posture & Movement
Forward head, rounded shoulders, alignment, and Pancafit.
Techniques Explained
Dry needling, IASTM, cupping: the mechanism and the evidence.
Breathwork & Cold
The Wim Hof Method and diaphragmatic work, coached clinically.
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Most Read Articles
The pieces patients open most. The strongest place to begin.
Techniques Explained
Pain & Recovery
Does Dry Needling Hurt? An Honest Answer
What you actually feel, what the soreness afterward means, and why the needle is nothing like the one you are picturing.
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Posture & Movement
5 Posture Fixes for Forward Head and Rounded Shoulders
The desk-bound patterns wrecking your neck and upper back, and the corrections I give patients to undo them.
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The full library
Pain & Recovery
Why Your Back Pain Keeps Coming Back
The difference between treating the symptom and fixing the driver. Why most back pain treatment is the former.
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Techniques Explained
What IASTM Really Does (and Why It Isn’t Just Scraping)
The science behind the metal tool, what it reaches that hands cannot, and what the marks afterward mean.
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Techniques Explained
Is Cupping Legitimate? The Clinical Case
Suction is not pseudoscience when it is used correctly. Here is the mechanism and what it actually treats.
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What Is the Wim Hof Method, and Is It Safe?
Breathwork and cold exposure, coached with clinical structure. What it does for the body and how to start safely.
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Posture & Movement
What Is Pancafit? The Only U.S. Studio Explains
A global-postural method that decompresses the whole muscular chain at once. Why I traveled to learn it.
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Pain & Recovery
Sciatica: Why Stretching Alone Rarely Fixes It
When pain shoots down the leg, the nerve is usually tethered upstream. What actually releases it.
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