The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy has determined that "More than four-fifths of what PTs need to know to be competent in dry needling is acquired during the course of their entry-level education, including knowledge related to evaluation, assessment, diagnosis and plan of care development, documentation, safety, and professional responsibilities. Advanced or specialized training, almost solely related to the needling technique and the psychomotor skills, is required to make up the deficit."  

The Federation has also stated that "Dry Needling (Intramuscular Manual Theray) is a technique using the insertion of a solid filament needle, without medication, into or through the skin to treat various impairments including, but not limited to: scarring, myofascial pain, motor recruitment and muscle firing problems. Goals for treatment vary from pain relief, increased extensibility of scar tissue to the improvement of neuromuscular firing patterns. . . .Physical therapists have a long history of treating myofascial pain and trigger points.  Dry needling is an intervention to address these problems.  It is not the sole intervention, merely a tool used by PTs. The needle insertion is used to create a twitch response in the muscle to help promote relaxation of the fibers; there is no use of energy flow or meridians.  Physical therapists do not use dry needling to address things such as fertility, smoking cessation, allergies, depression or other non-neuro-musculoskeleta conditions."

The technques using monofilament needles by Physical Therapists is very different from the use of needles for Accupuncture.  The only thing that is simular  is the tool used. 

I urge you to approve the use of needles by Physical Theapists to treat using Physical Therapy techniques.