Action | Practice of dry needling |
Stage | Proposed |
Comment Period | Ended on 7/26/2019 |
My clinic has successfully used dry needling for years safely and with great success for our patients. Dry needling is accepted by most states.
Dry needling is a technique physical therapists use for the treatment of pain and movement impairments. The technique uses a "dry" needle, one without medication or injection, inserted through the skin into areas of the muscle.
Dry needling is not acupuncture, a practice based on traditional Chinese medicine and performed by acupuncturists. Dry needling is a part of modern Western medicine principles, and supported by research done in part by Physical Therapists.
As part of their entry level education, physical therapists are well educated in anatomy and therapeutic treatment of the body. Physical therapists who perform dry needling supplement that knowledge by obtaining specific postgraduate education and training.
Trigger Point Dry Needling is in the scope of practice of Physical Therapists and I support this regulation being approved.
This should be a conversation about wording for the practice act, not if physical therapists should perform dry needling.