As a licensed acupuncturist who has practiced for over 12 years, I am strongly opposed to anyone who is under licensed such as sports trainers to use needles.  Our training is extensive, 4+ years. Anyone who is crossing the skin barrier faces multiple problematic consequences.  Dry needling, as it is called, is a renamed branding of an acupuncture technique and difficult needling style. It is also one that can cause the most damage to a patient. As a practitioner with a full-time practice And with over 15,000 sessions under my belt, still rarely do I use the technique called dry needling. Mainly because of its difficulty in doing correctly, and the possibility of injury to the client.  It requires going to past subcutaneous layer of the skin in order to “trigger’ a muscle. The possibilities for injury and internal damage is real.   A needle is a surgical instrument and someone needs to be properly trained in order to use it.  Only someone who is fully licensed in Acupuncture should be using Acupuncture needles.