This post is for the express purposes of supporting the performance of Dry Needling as distinct from the performance of acupuncture.  Physical therapists are licensed and regulated medical professionals who have a deep understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. Physical therapists in the United States are currently required to obtain a Clinical Doctorate in Physical Therapy (DPT) when graduating from current programs. Strong evidence shows that their training more than prepares them to perform dry needling safely and effectively.  Our goal in using dry needling is NOT to compete with acupuncturists as the two treatments are distinct from one another, instead our goal is to use a safe, effective, and commonly practiced treatment to create optimal outcomes for our patients while minimizing ecomomic impact.  Dry needling is an evidence based treatment used by multiple medical practitioners including physical therapists, physicians,  and other medical professionals as dictated by state law

On Education - Evidence supports that physical therapists have the required knowledge to perform Dry Needling.  Quoting a recent report (Analysis of Competencies for Dry Needling by Physical Therapists authored by FSBPT):

• "86% of the knowledge requirements needed to be competent in dry needling is acquired during the course of PT entry-level education, including knowledge related to evaluation, assessment, diagnosis and plan of care development, documentation, safety, and professional responsibilities" 

As physical therapists we are trained as part of our didactic course work in graduate level human anatomy including cadaver dissection.  Physical therapists are also trained in ALL entry level programs on the use of scalpels to perform sharps debridement of necrotic tissues as well as other tissue altering modalities in patients with wounds.  Physical therapists may also perform needle EMG studies after training similar to that required for dry needling which permits a therapist to use a large non hollow needle inserted into muscle tissue to perform EMG and nerve conduction velocity studies.  Physical therapists are also trained to handle a wide variety of clinical emergencies independenlty, although as mentioned below adverse events from dry needling are exceedingly rare.

On Research and Safety - Research supports both the efficacy and safety of trigger point dry needling as performed by Physical Therapists - A recent study reported adverse events from a large number of dry needling treatments (over 7,000 treatments) reporting no serious adverse events.  (Brady S, McEvoy J, Dommerholt J, Doody C. Adverse events following trigger point dry needling: a prospective survey of chartered physiotherapists. The Journal of Manual & Manipulative Therapy. 2014;22(3):134-140. doi:10.1179/2042618613Y.0000000044.)  Trigger point dry needling has the highest level of evidence avaiable for efficacy (Sackett level 1 evidence) and has been demonstrated to be effective by multiple systematic reviews for musculoskeletal pain.