I am a physical therapist practicing and living in VA who is certified in dry needling. I, like many of my colleagues, have my doctorate and am an expert in human anatomy and physiology. Currently, dry needling is an additional certification in which you must take at least 50 hours worth of classroom lessons and practical experience in order to perform dry needling. This is a skill beyond the expertise that earning my doctorate in physical therapy afforded me, and builds on the education I already have which is why it is an additional certification. Since utilizing dry needling with my patients, I have been able to use it in conjunction with exercises in order to improve strength and reset and rebuild neural connections between the brain and muscles. I can use dry needling to have an effect much faster and more efficiently than I can have with other modes of manual therapy, which allows me to spend more time with my patients teaching them exercises to improve their symptoms. Besides using the same size needles, there is little in common with acupuncture, and should not be confused with it as it uses completely different theories, depths and adjunct therapies in order to have the intended affect.