Action | Practice of dry needling |
Stage | Proposed |
Comment Period | Ended on 2/24/2017 |
Physical Therapists attend 4 years of undergraduate education and 3 years of graduate education to earn their Doctorate. In addition to the many years of education and patient interaction, they participate in continuing education courses/seminars to further educate themselves and learn to utilize skills to better serve their patients- dry needling being an incredibly useful and successful tool. Physical Therapists are THE musculoskeletal experts and are highly trained in anatomy, physiology, body mechanics, etc., but with this being said, the practice of PT does not discedit other holisitic means of intervention and patient treatment. Fortunately, I work in a clinic where every provider is at least Level II Trigger Point Dry Needling certified and amongst these coworkers, half of them teach Dry Needling to fellow PTs across the country and within the DC/VA universities as part of the school curriculum. Additionally, I have a multitude of patients who attend PT and receive Dry Needling in addition to receiving acupuncture elsewhere to address their (in their words) "more psychosocial issues...allergies...and anxiety". As I stated earlier, I believe Trigger Point Dry Needling and Acupuncture both serve a great purpose and there are a plethora of people benefiting from both treatment interventions. I have seen so many people- young, old, male, female, athlete, desk-bound, etc. benefit from dry needling that is would be an absolute shame to rob them of this treatment.