As a graduate of an acupuncture school and one who has received it for over 30 years, I am very concerned about risks to those seeking help from a physical therapist using the dry needle technique.

PTs generally dry needle just local areas where there is pain in the muscules and they may exclude treating the root cause of that pain.  Acupuncture practitioners, trained over a 3-4 year period including hundreds of clinic hours, consider a more comprehensive approach to treat pain at the root and/or the branch levels. Their diagnosis may involve points that are distal, on different channels, at different resonating locations, using reducing or tonifying techniques at depths specific to the condition, etc.  Physical therapy training for dry needling does not involve a complete enough knowledge base of traditional oriental medicine to perform needling and to do it safely.  This dry needling practice poses an undue risk to the public.  Before any physical therapist takes needle in hand, they should go through a several hundred hour course of study and clinic at an accredited acupuncture school, graduate, complete exams, and become accredited through NCCAOM exams as do acupuncture students.  Without that knowledge base and school credentials, I would not trust them to safely practice dry needling acupuncture on anyone, including me.  

Respectfully, 

Kim Laney LMP CSP