How often do needles get broken or stuck?
With single use needles, it is extremely rare for a needle to be broken during a treatment. Repeated sterilization of needles tends to weaken the structure of the metal, which is why broken needles were more common prior to single use needles became the norm. It is possible for a needle to break if the patient moves around a lot while the needles are in deeper muscle tissue or if a patient has a muscle spasm while the needles are in. However, the needles used are very small, very flexible, and generally do not break with ease. Stuck needles are more common than broken needles, but this also is a rare occurrence. Generally, when a needle appears stuck, the body just isn’t ready to let go of it yet. Waiting 5 minutes or so and coming back to it is usually all that is needed for that stuck needle to lift right out with ease. In some cases where the patient has particularly tight muscles or has moved during the treatment, muscle fibers get wrapped around the needle making it more difficult
