LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride heard about what happened to Pittsburgh Steelers star T.J. Watt — and McBride plans to continue his weekly dry-needling sessions.
“It’s something I do frequently. I’ve never had an issue like that,” he said. “But with every treatment, everything that you get done, I mean, there’s risk to everything.”
Dry needling is a treatment used by physical therapists and acupuncturists to treat pain and movement issues, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The medical professionals insert needles under the skin to target trigger points — knotted or tender areas — in muscles.
“I think there is some of that classic acupuncture muscle tension effect,” said Chicago Bears center Drew Dalman, who has the treatment five to 10 times per year. “I’ve always used that in terms of soft tissue-type issues.”
The risk that goes along with dry needling — at least in certain areas — caught many off guard last week when Watt was sent to the hospital with a partially collapsed lung sustained during the procedure. The 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year is out indefinitely after having surgery.
Dry needling is often part of a larger pain management plan, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The treatment is designed to alleviate tightness and tender areas in muscles by increasing blood flow to the area. It also can spark the release of endorphins that help with the pain.
The treatment is called dry needling because the thin needles don't have any medication.
“It just releases tight muscles," New York Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke said. "Obviously you have some fascial tension, so it helps release some of the fascia, too. It can kind of give you like a targeted trigger-point release where massage might not be able to get the muscle to release or different stretching techniques might not. Sometimes you stick a needle deep into that area, and it just gets it to relax.”
Two of the most common techniques are superficial — when the practitioner inserts the needle into the bottom layer of skin above the trigger point — and deep — when the needle is inserted deep into the muscle to penetrate the trigger point. There is also the pistoning technique, when the practitioner quickly moves the needle up and down through the tissue.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, dry needling is approved for use in 37 states and Washington, D.C. Training and certification can vary by state. Pennsylvania does not explicitly allow or ban the practice.
Washington Commanders guard Sam Cosmi said he started using dry needling during his college days at the University of Texas. Playing his fifth NFL season, he has a session every three weeks or so.
He described the sensation of the needle going in as a “bite.”
“I only do it when I have to do it. It’s not my favorite thing," Cosmi said.
The use of dry needling varies around the NFL.
Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman John Jenkins said he has a session every week. The 36-year-old Jenkins, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 360 pounds, has been using the treatment for about a decade.
“I do a lot of lower extremities, when it comes to dry needling," he said. "It helps me loosen up a lot of muscles that are pretty much tense. I’m a bigger person, right? So whatever helps me to loosen the muscles, I’m going to pursue that.”
Tennessee Titans center Lloyd Cushenberry said he uses the treatment when he thinks it's necessary. He cited his recovery from an Achilles tendon injury in November 2024 and a calf issue this past offseason.
“Sometimes, like with my calf, I felt some relief," he said. "But most of the time I’ve done it, it’s, I don’t know, maybe a placebo, I don’t know. I haven’t found too much, like it wasn’t a drastic difference afterwards. But when I did it with my calf this offseason ... it felt a little better.”
Some players are very particular about the areas where they will have the treatment. Cosmi said he doesn't have any sessions on his torso. Cushenberry said he sticks to his lower body.
“I’m a lower-body guy. If I’m getting dry-needled, stick it in my legs,” Commanders receiver Jaylin Lane said.
Lane said he heard about what happened with Watt and it made him nervous. Atlanta Falcons offensive lineman Kyle Hinton also was aware of what happened, but he said it hadn't changed how he felt about the treatment.
“I trust all professionals, at least around here,” Hinton said. "I’m sure they have a great athletic training staff in Pittsburgh as well. But, you know, sometimes just stuff happens.”
AP Pro Football Writer Teresa Walker and AP Sports Writers Howard Fendrich, Will Graves, David Brandt, Charles Odum, Stephen Whyno and Noah Trister contributed to this report.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Houston Texans Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt enters the field before an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Nov. 30, 2025, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Julia Dvorak is worried her 83-year-old mother’s emergency room trips for seizures are depleting her retirement savings and will soon force her to go on Medicaid.
At the same time, Dvorak, who's 56 and suffers from a chronic knee condition that keeps her on state and federal assistance, expects her own health costs to go up next year.
It's the kind of financial squeeze that has made health care a growing concern for Americans, according to a new AP-NORC poll that asked people to share their top priorities for the government to address in 2026.
The uptick on health care was much sharper than on other commonly mentioned issues. It comes after President Donald Trump's Republican administration reduced spending on Medicaid, a safety net program for poor people, and decided to end coronavirus pandemic-era subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, essentially guaranteeing that millions of people will see a steep rise in costs early next year.
The changes could return health care to center stage in next year's midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress.
“I see how it affects me and my loved ones,” Dvorak, who lives outside Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said about the cost of health care. “But I also know it’s affecting other people, and it’s getting worse.”
Despite the spike in health care concerns, immigration and broader worries about rising costs remain pressing issues, according to the December poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
But Americans are also less confident that the government will be able to make progress on the important problems facing the country in 2026. About 66% of U.S. adults say they are “slightly” or “not at all confident,” down from 58% last year.
About 4 in 10 U.S. adults named health care or health issues in an open-ended question that asked respondents to share up to five issues they want the government to work on in the coming year. That’s up from about one-third last year.
The high cost of health care came as a shock to Republican Joshua Campbell when he and his wife recently sought a medical plan for their young daughter. The 38-year-old small business owner from Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, voted for Trump last year, and he mostly approves of the way Trump is handling his job, particularly on immigration. But health care expenses have become a major priority for him going into 2026.
“Health care costs are pretty crazy,” he said. “I just thought, ‘Man, there’s got to be something better than what we have.’”
Health care is a particularly high concern for adults between the ages of 45 and 59 — people who may have higher health care costs than younger adults but aren't yet eligible for Medicare.
The poll shows a similar landscape to the one Trump faced at the end of his first year in office during his first term, when health care reform was at the top of many Americans’ minds. But Trump has an added complication now. At the end of 2017, very few mentioned cost of living concerns — now, about one-third do.
Campbell described his politics as conservative, and while he recalled viewing the Affordable Care Act somewhat negatively when it first passed, he said he now views it as a step toward helping improve health care.
“I do think they were at least trying, and at least trying to do something," he said. "And I don’t really see that — it’s one of the things from the Republican Party as well that I don’t necessarily agree with. Or I think that they should be doing better at.”
Inflation and the high cost of living have been a top priority for many Americans since the end of 2021. Tommy Carosone is reminded every time his wife returns from the grocery store, especially with their two kids, both teenagers, still at home.
“My wife is spending so much more money on groceries than just a few years ago. Every time she comes home from the grocery store, I hear about it,” said Carosone, from St. Peter’s, Missouri. “She tells me it’s stupid expensive, especially meat. Ground beef, bacon, anything from the deli. It’s outrageous.”
The 44-year-old jet aircraft mechanic, the sole wage earner for his family of four, doesn’t see the cost of living coming down any time soon. He voted for Trump and generally agrees with his tariff agenda as a way to make the U.S. more competitive, and he figures prices will stay higher until the trade war ends.
“In the meantime, what are you going to do, not eat?” he said.
Carosone said he is glad he voted for Trump and had been concerned before Trump took office again about illegal immigration. But it doesn’t register even as a top priority for him now, in light of action the administration is taking.
“It’s a lot better,” he said. “It’s not really one of the main concerns I have now. I mean, don’t stop. That’s for sure. But I don’t think it’s something that’s a top concern.”
About 2 in 10 U.S. adults want the federal government to focus on housing costs next year. That issue has been rising in recent years, with young adults being especially likely to mention it. About one-quarter of adults under age 30 want the government to focus on housing expenses, compared with about 1 in 10 of those 60 or older.
Many Americans were hoping Trump would bring a hard-line approach to immigration when he returned to the White House in January.
Immigration was the top issue Americans wanted the government to focus on last year, with about half of U.S. adults citing it. A large number, 44%, said they want the government to prioritize immigration this year, too — but Democrats have grown increasingly concerned about the issue, while Republicans and independents have declined.
About 4 in 10 Democrats listed it as a concern this year, an apparent increase from 32% last year. Majorities of Republicans still consider it a priority -- about 6 in 10 mentioned it, but that’s down from about 7 in 10 last year.
Roxanna Holper, 64, is worried about the Trump administration’s approach to immigration, even though she believes Democrats have fumbled the issue in the past by failing to curb the “insanity” at the border. The Minnesota native describes herself as not ideological, and she has voted for Republicans as well as Democrats. Lately, she’s been voting Democratic.
“(Trump) campaigned with, you know, ‘We’re going to get the worst of the worst ... off the streets,’” she said. "Well, who doesn’t want that?”
She said she believes that's not what's actually happening. “You hear stories where a mom was deported with her two children,” she said. "Like, what the hell — well, who are we as a society that we would treat anybody like that? That is so appalling.”
Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Catalini reported from Trenton, N.J. Parwani reported from Columbus, Ohio.
The AP-NORC poll of 1,146 adults was conducted Dec. 4-8 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable on farm subsidies in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - A lectern awaits the arrival of House Democrats to speak on the health care funding fight on the steps of the House at the Capitol in Washington, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
