Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Health Professions
 
Board
Board of Medicine
 
chapter
Regulations Governing the Licensure of Athletic Trainers [18 VAC 85 ‑ 120]
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4/30/25  1:04 pm
Commenter: Susannah Pitman, DAc, LAc

Opposing athletic trainers from adding dry needling to their scope of practice
 

I oppose athletic trainers from adding dry needling to their scope of practice. As an acupuncturist with 18 years of experience as well as over 3,000 hours of training, I have a tremendous amount of experience working with filiform needles, which are the same needles used in dry needling. Dry Needling is one form of acupuncture. As simple as dry needling appears, there is great risk of causing harm without extensive training and oversight, which is why acupuncturists have thousands of hours of training in using these needles on top of the anatomy and physiology education that's also required. I have treated patients that have been injured by dry needling performed by physical therapists, and considering that physical therapists have significant education in anatomy and are experts at surface anatomy, these incidents of injury may point to the minimal education that's required to handle filiform needles. For the sake of the public, please oppose this petition.

CommentID: 234021