I was first introduced to Dry Needling 2 years ago, when a patient of mine came to me complaining of serious chest and upper back pain. She had just come from her Physical Therapist, who had performed Dry Needling on her back that same afternoon. As it turned out, she had a pneumothorax and had to go the ER, where she was put in the ICU and remained in the hospital for the next 24 hours. She happened to have taken a photo of her DN treatment, which showed the most shocking placement of needles I had ever seen: 8 needles inserted deeply, perpendicularly, into what acupuncturists call 'Back Shu" points, along both sides of the spine, with no regard for the underlying organs. PTs claim that DN is the insertion of needles into trigger points (called "ah shi" points by acupuncturists). But in the two years since my patient's unfortunate experience, I have seen many more photos of Dry Needling showing the reckless placement of needles into the body -- sometimes randomly, and sometimes along clearly drawn lines that are clearly acupuncture meridians. I object strenuously to the lack of training by PTs to perform DN. But more importantly, I object to the renegade path that many PTs have taken beyond the insertion of needles into so-called "trigger points".