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T.J. Watt Hospitalized After Team Facility Accident—Here's What Dry Needling Really Is

December 19, 2025

T.J. Watt Hospitalized After Team Facility Accident—Here's What Dry Needling Really Is

When Pittsburgh Steelers star T.J. Watt walked into the team facility on Wednesday, December 11th, he expected a routine recovery session. Instead, what should have been a simple treatment turned into an emergency hospitalization, surgery, and questions about a therapy that millions of athletes use without issue.

The Wisconsin product suffered a partially collapsed lung during a dry needling treatment—a complication so rare that medical literature classifies it as "extremely uncommon." Yet here was one of the NFL's most dominant defenders, fresh off surpassing his brother J.J. Watt's career sack total just weeks earlier, being rushed to the hospital with extreme chest pain.

So what exactly is dry needling, why do so many athletes swear by it, and should players be worried?

What Happened to T.J. Watt?

The details emerged slowly. On Wednesday afternoon, Watt experienced discomfort during what his brother J.J. Watt later described as "a dry needling treatment session" at the Steelers facility. The pain intensified rapidly—what started as discomfort became what insiders described as "extreme pain" that sent medical staff scrambling.1

By Thursday, Watt was in surgery to stabilize and repair his partially collapsed lung, a condition medically known as pneumothorax. The procedure went well, and by Friday afternoon, the seven-time Pro Bowler was released from the hospital to rest at home. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin ruled him out for Monday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins, though no long-term recovery timeline has been established.2

"Recovery timeline is still TBD, but all went well and he is being released from the hospital today," J.J. Watt posted on social media Friday. "He and his family are very appreciative of everyone's kind words and well wishes."3

The NFL Players Association confirmed they've been in contact with Watt and his representatives, signaling that the union is taking the incident seriously and investigating what went wrong.4

The Watt Brothers' Wisconsin Connection

For those who followed T.J. Watt's unlikely journey from walk-on tight end to NFL superstar, adversity is nothing new. At Wisconsin, Watt redshirted his freshman year in 2013, then missed the entire 2014 season with a knee injury. When he finally hit the field in 2015, it was as a converted linebacker—a position he'd never played before.

Despite playing just two full seasons for the Badgers, Watt exploded in 2016 with 11.5 sacks and earned first-team All-American honors. He left Madison early for the 2017 NFL Draft, where the Steelers selected him 30th overall.5

Both T.J. and his brother J.J. recorded exactly 11.5 sacks during their Wisconsin careers—an eerie parallel. But T.J. has since eclipsed his older brother's NFL achievements, recording his 115th career sack in November 2025 to pass J.J.'s total of 114.5 sacks. He did it in 132 games compared to J.J.'s 151.6

The collapsed lung forced Watt to miss his first game of the 2025 season after appearing in all 13 contests, tallying 53 tackles and seven sacks.

What Is Dry Needling, Actually?

Despite its growing popularity in sports medicine, dry needling remains misunderstood by most fans. It's not acupuncture, though the two look similar.

The Basics: Dry needling involves inserting thin, sterile needles—sometimes as thin as a human hair—into muscle tissue to target what clinicians call "trigger points." These are tight, knotted areas in muscles that cause pain and restrict movement.7

The term "dry" simply means no medication is injected. The needle itself is the treatment.

How It Works: When the needle penetrates a trigger point, it causes the muscle to contract or twitch—sometimes called a "local twitch response." This reaction helps the muscle release tension, increases blood flow to the area, and triggers the body's natural pain-relief mechanisms through endorphin release.8

Physical therapists, athletic trainers, chiropractors, and other trained professionals perform dry needling in 46 U.S. states (four states still prohibit the practice). It's particularly popular in professional sports, where managing muscle soreness and tightness is a daily battle.

Former Steelers linebacker James Harrison told ESPN in 2015 that "three to five" teammates were also using dry needling regularly. "It's a more invasive form of needling," Harrison said. "It can be recovery-based and help to heal any injuries that are nagging. ... It's painful as hell."9

The Science: Does It Actually Work?

Research on dry needling has exploded in recent years—from just seven published studies in 2009 to over 1,100 by December 2024.10

The verdict? It works, but perhaps not dramatically better than other physical therapy interventions.

A 2025 systematic review concluded that dry needling has "very low to moderate quality evidence" for reducing pain compared to no treatment or sham procedures. However, when combined with other therapies like exercise and manual therapy, the results improve significantly.11

Here's what the research shows:

Benefit Evidence Level
Short-term pain relief (immediate to 12 weeks) Moderate
Improved range of motion Low to moderate
Long-term pain relief (beyond 12 weeks) Insufficient
Better than other physical therapy No significant difference
Combined with other treatments Most effective approach

The key finding: dry needling appears most effective as part of a comprehensive treatment plan, not as a standalone miracle cure.

What About the Risks?

Here's where T.J. Watt's situation becomes instructive. Dry needling is generally safe—but "generally safe" doesn't mean risk-free.

A comprehensive 2020 study of 20,464 dry needling sessions found that minor adverse events occurred in about 36% of treatments. These included:12

  • Soreness at the needle site (most common)
  • Minor bleeding or bruising (about 20% of treatments)
  • Temporary pain increase
  • Muscle fatigue

Serious complications? Less than 0.1% of treatments.

The rarest serious complication is exactly what happened to Watt: pneumothorax, or collapsed lung. Medical literature classifies this as "extremely rare" when dry needling is performed by trained professionals.13

Here's why it can happen: When treating areas near the thoracic region (chest, upper back, shoulder), needles can potentially penetrate too deeply and puncture the pleural space around the lungs. This allows air to leak into the space between the lung and chest wall, causing the lung to partially or fully collapse.

Cleveland Clinic's website explicitly warns: "If shortness of breath occurs, contact your provider or physician or call 911 immediately. If the needling was performed in your thoracic area, it could cause a collapsed lung (pneumothorax). This is extremely rare but requires a chest X-ray and further care."14

The Tyrod Taylor Precedent

Watt isn't the first NFL player to suffer a punctured lung from a needle treatment.

In September 2020, then-Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Tyrod Taylor was set to start against the Kansas City Chiefs. Just before kickoff, he received a pain-relieving injection for two cracked ribs. The needle punctured his lung, causing a pneumothorax that not only sidelined him but inadvertently launched rookie Justin Herbert's career.15

There are key differences between the incidents. Taylor's procedure involved injecting medication (making it "wet needling"), while Watt's was pure dry needling. Taylor's was a pre-game painkiller for an existing injury; Watt's was routine recovery treatment.

But both underscore the same point: even routine medical procedures carry risk when performed near vital organs.

ESPN injury analyst Stephania Bell noted that every player's recovery is unique, but the prognosis is generally positive. "Lung tissue is remarkably resilient, especially in a young, healthy athlete," Bell wrote. "A lung injury like Watt's has the potential to heal within 7-10 days, and there should be no long-term effects."16

Taylor returned to play professional football after his incident. All indications suggest Watt will do the same.

Should Players Be Worried?

Current Steelers inside linebacker Patrick Queen offered perhaps the most revealing comment when asked about dry needling: "I prefer to use acupuncture over dry needling."17

It's a personal choice, and one that highlights an important reality: athletes have options for managing muscle pain and tightness. Dry needling is one tool among many—massage therapy, cupping, acupuncture, electrical stimulation, and traditional stretching all achieve similar goals.

The medical community's consensus is clear: dry needling, when performed by properly trained professionals, is safe and effective for most people. The risk of serious complications is extraordinarily low.

But "extraordinarily low" isn't zero.

For context, consider that millions of dry needling sessions happen annually in the United States without incident. A recent 2025 patient survey found that between 38.5% and 73.8% of patients reported positive improvements in pain or physical function after treatment—despite 80% experiencing some minor localized side effects like soreness.18

Most patients, the research shows, believe the benefits outweigh the risks.

What Happens Next

The Steelers (7-6) are in a tight battle for the AFC North title, holding just a one-game lead over the Baltimore Ravens with four weeks remaining in the regular season. Losing their defensive captain for any length of time is a significant blow.

Watt has been the team's defensive anchor all season, leading by example with his ironman streak of 56 consecutive regular-season starts heading into this week. His 115 career sacks rank third-most in the NFL since he entered the league in 2017, and his presence is felt on every snap whether he records a statistic or not.

Head coach Mike Tomlin said Friday he hasn't looked beyond Monday night's game regarding Watt's timeline. "I'm kind of one week at a time," Tomlin said. "I know he's not participating this week."19

The bigger question is what this incident means for the NFL's approach to dry needling and other therapeutic interventions. Will teams re-evaluate their protocols? Will more players opt for alternative treatments?

Ultimately, T.J. Watt's freak accident serves as a sobering reminder that even the safest medical procedures carry some inherent risk. For a player who overcame position changes, multiple injuries, and long odds to become one of the NFL's elite defenders, this is just the latest challenge to overcome.

If his career is any indication, he'll be back on the field soon—probably sooner than anyone expects.

Sources

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