Physical Therapists continue to make the argument that they are adequately trained and ethically bound to do Acupuncture under the semantic disguise of "dry needling"  The only precedent for non-acupuncturist/non-physicians to stick needles into people to treat trigger points involves the use of *hypodermic* needles, as Dr. Janet Travell did, to inject saline into muscular trigger points. Janet Travell was JFK's physician (note, she was a physician, not a PT) and she used very thick needles to inject into the muscle tissue. Acupuncturists have used thin solid filament needles to elicit twitch responses at the site of trigger points, for centuries now. This is *exactly* the same thing that PTs are doing while claiming that its not acupuncture.

I've read the Dry Needling Manual for PTs and the argument against acupuncturists trying to protect both patient welfare and their livelihood, is that Acupuncture is "TCM". This point alone shows the level of misunderstanding in the PT community of what acupuncture actually is. TCM stands for "Traditional Chinese Medicine" but it is a misnomer. It was coined during the cultural revolution in China as a way to standardize acupuncture. It is a term that is only 50 or so years old and it does not adequately represent the long history of acupuncturists needling trigger points. In acupuncture language, these are called "ashi" points. The physical act of treating them with a solid needle is exactly the same as the treatment that PTs claim is unique to their profession. Simply put, its an untruth that PTs are doing anything novel or unique by inserting solid needles into trigger points.

Treating patients with solid needles is the core aspect of acupuncture. PTs have been using their powerful lobby to try and annex this core aspect, of a whole class of health care practitioners into their already wide scope of practice. This is often done with very little training, putting patients at risk and simultaneously undermining thousands of professionally trained acupuncturists who have dedicated their lives and careers to their medicine. Its worth noting that the vast majority of lung puncture injuries, known as pneumothorax, suffered by patients are caused by PTs.

I urge you to vote to protect both acupuncturists and patients and ban "dry needling" for physical therapists.