Dry Needling Is Banned

Warning: Dry Needling has been banned in these states: California, Hawaii, New York, Oregon, Washington!

As fast as Dry Needling came into the medical world, it is quickly vanishing from many states. And for very good reasons.

Among social media influencers and those finding themselves scrolling TikTok streams, the practice of “dry needling” has become quite popular. One could even say it has “gone viral” as of late. But, with all of this visibility, is it really a practice that can be considered safe to receive when compared to more traditional acupuncture therapy? What about the practitioners of dry needling? Are they licensed and educated enough to ensure a safe, secure, and reputable therapy session? All of these questions and more we will answer today in our blog.

What Is Dry Needling?

It certainly sounds hip and cool. It sounds like an exotic food or drink preparation that one may receive at a high-end restaurant or club. It is, however, much more mundane than that. Dry needling is, at its core, very similar to acupuncture. They use acupuncture needles to alleviate pain. We call "dry needling" neuromuscular acupuncture. It is not new. It is not revolutionary. We do love neuromuscular acupuncture and are trained thoroughly to alleviate pain and musculoskeletal injuries and pain. In fact, it is deeper, thicker, more invasive acupuncture techniques that not many patients like, but will tolerate to get rid of their sports injury or pain. Thankfully, we are trained in many, many needle techniques and our patients favorite: painless acupuncture. Better results, just a lot less suffering.

Some dry needling proponents or practitioners may try to convince you that it is different from acupuncture because dry needling uses point locations and a needling style that are connected anatomical structures and the body’s physiological function rather than traditional Chinese medicine’s (TCM) informed theories, but that just isn’t true. We respect the P.T.'s and Chiropractors who petitioned the Idaho Senate against dry needling sharing how they are not qualified, nor do they condone the practice and they exclusively refer out to acupuncture for pain and sports injury when dry needling is needed.

The truth is that licensed and properly accredited acupuncture doctors, even those rooted in TCM have had training on both the traditional acupuncture methods on top of extensive knowledge and training on modern anatomical theories and have done so for a very long time. In short, an actual licensed acupuncturist can perform both the dry needling style and traditional style of acupuncture and often does a mix of both with each patient.

Trust In A Licensed Acupuncturist

Would you really trust someone with a needle who has only 40 hours of training, never practiced on a cadaver, was never in a supervised clinical setting, never saw actual patients, and never gets an actual license? Needles are scary enough. Needling can hurt and going deep into the muscles to elicit a muscle twitch, deep in the belly of the muscle is uncomfortable, especially by untrained hands. Most people are horrified to learn how inadequate the training of "dry needlers" who are P.T.'s, Chiro's and Doctors. P.T.'s in Idaho are only required 27 hours of training. That is literally one weekend. Even dog groomers go to school and have training for 2-5 months- no needles, just haircuts on dogs. Hairstylists are required by law to finish 1,600-3,200 hours of training and they never stick needles in anyone.

Safety, results, and cleanliness will never be as be as good or better than having a session with an actual licensed, fully credentialed, acupuncturist. Here is an example of the training differences between dry needling specialists and NCCAOM National Board-Certified Acupuncturists TM .

Dry Needling Certification

  • No standard peer-reviewed academic curriculum for training

  • Training only comes from abbreviated continuing education workshops

  • No minimum hours or experience required

  • No curriculum standards to which they must adhere

  • No standardized or valid competency test

  • No national psychometrically validated examinations to test competency

  • Typical amount of training is 40 hours over 2 weeks

  • No degree required

Acupuncture Therapist Certification (Board Certified)

  • Must complete over 1,900 hours of postgraduate education

  • Receive a minimum of 660 hours of supervised clinical training

  • Must hold a graduate degree or professional doctorate degree to be board certified

  • Must pass three separate and rigorous NCCAOM Board Examinations

  • Complete an approved course in Clean Needle Technique and practices

  • Hold up to date NCCAOM code of ethics documentation

Kristen Burris’s L.Ac., M.S.T.O.M. Doctoral Candidate DAcCHM Certifications and Board Licenses

Just for a comparison, Eagle Acupuncture’s own, Kristen and Tony Burris have, of course, a postgraduate degree, are board certified, and have had over 5,500 hours of training over 6+ years. So, if you want to get the very best care from a certified professional, please avoid a dry needling provider and get acupuncture.

If anyone says these words to you "you need dry needling" or "I will give you dry needling" respond with no thank you I get acupuncture. If they try and convince you you can ask them how many hours of dry needling training do they have?

For The Road
We hope you enjoyed learning about the process and certifications involved in dry needling. If you would like to know more about this or anything else along these lines, we are happy to help. Just contact us and we can go over your options and help you find the best path for your health and fertility goals. Schedule a consultation for acupuncture, herbal medicine, functional medicine, supplements or lifestyle modifications, by reaching out to us HERE. We offer telemedicine for those who are not within driving distance from our office.




Colin Eggleston