Action | Practice of dry needling |
Stage | NOIRA |
Comment Period | Ended on 12/30/2015 |
PT's doing "dry needling" is as bad as chiropractors doing Acupuncture. Both will take a 100-300 hr course and become "certified" in Acu puncture. I have almost 3,000 hrs of education in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. Physical Therapists would be outraged if I took a 100-300 hr course and added PT to my practice. They want to add it because they can bill for it with patients who have insurance benefits for Acupuncture. Those who do not have coverage will unlikely receive "dry needling" since it won't be paid for. That said, in most cases, herbal therapy is necessary to treat the underlying CAUSE of the pain. Physical Therapists will join the ranks of the AMA in treating symptoms only. I have been providing Acupuncture services for almost 10 years. Prior to that I was an RN for 20 years, 16 years in Critical Care and almost 8 years in a level 1 trauma ICU. I know what each medicine treats best. I always caution my "snow birds" heading up north after the winter in Fl to find a "real" Acupuncturist, not an MD, Chiropractor ora Physical Therapist simply because they are only "certified" and have very limited knowledge of Acupuncture. Also, any of the ancient texts say that the needles must be retained for 30-60 minutes unless the person is very weak eg 88 yr lady after a surgical procedure. Dry needling will not follow the directions of Chinese Medicine, therefore outcomes will be poor and Acupuncture will be doubted by many saying "acupuncture didn't work for me" because it was not done by someone with a full education in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine.