After reading the article titled "dry needling versus acupuncture: the ongoing debate published in the British journal Acupuncture in Medicine, I completely agree with the authors Zhou and his colleagues in this issue. I believe that dry needling is a subcategory of acupuncture. Based on the current legal system, only two professions are allowed to practice acupuncture, namely, acupuncturists and medical doctors. Any other profession practicing dry needling or acupuncture is practicing medicine/acupuncture without a license which is very concerning. Although dry needling practice by physical therapists is common in many states, it does not confer its appropriateness. As needling is an invasive practice, extended education and training is absolutely essential. Needling is not included in the current typical physical therapy education system. There is no standard for physical therapist to comply with in the education and practice of dry needling as it is not and should not be part of the scope of practice of physical therapy. In order to allow physical therapist practicing dry needling, radical changes of the physical therapy education system is needed via increasing needling training, establishing standards, build accreditation agencies. As dry needling is acupuncture, the involvement of the acupuncture profession in these changes is vital. In this way, we will be able to protect the general public from the unnecessary harms.