Hello,

I want to say that first and formost as  Licensed Acupuncturist Dry Needling is acupuncture.  It is part of acupuncture as the medicine itself.  Dry needling deals with trigger point therapy and getting a twitch response.  As part of acupuncture, there are trigger points that we find and also get twitch responses.  These twitch repsonses change the physiological state of the body and release different neurotransmitters, hormones, natural opoids within the body to allow the healing process to take place.  It will improve blood flow to allow the healing process to take place.

I oppose PT's performing Dry Needling without going through a full acupuncture and Chinese medicine school or university.  Proper training is so important for the safety of the people.  There have been numerous pneumothoraxes and accidents since the rise of dry needling among PTs. 

Here in Utah PTs have to have a minimum training of 300 hours to perform dry needling.  That is even not enough for them to practice safely.  It is a high acupuncture technique.  I would high consider not allowing PTs to do dry needling without acupuncture training.  You can contact me to talk to me more about it if needed.

Thanks,

Tyehao Lu, L.Ac, MAOM