Dry needling is in fact Acupuncture, as defined in our scope of practice.  I am an acupuncturist with 10 years of experience in doing dry needling, or trigger point acupuncture, and it alarms me that Physical Therapists can attempt to do deep dry needling on patients with only minimal training.  I spent over 3 years and 3000 clinical hours with close supervision learning how to do dry needling safely for the welfare of my patients.  Without proper training, patients could suffer nerve damage or pneumothorax.  The patients do not know to ask a PT how much training they have, or to judge what is a safe amount of training.  To ensure public safety,  is up to the state boards to set a high standard of training and to enforce the scope of practice of ALL medical professionals.  If a PT practice wants to offer dry needling, they need to employ a licensed acupuncturist.  Period.