A service we do not offer, and may not
Why we do not do dry needling
Because in New York a physical therapist may not. This is one of only four states that takes that view, which is why the question comes up so often and why some clinics here still advertise it.
We do not offer dry needling, and in this state we may not. We do not offer dry needling, and neither may any other physical therapist in this state. The New York State Board has held it an invasive procedure outside the physical therapy scope of practice; acupuncture needles may be used here only by licensed acupuncturists and by physicians and dentists certified to do it. New York is one of only four states that take this view, which is why a clinic that moved here from elsewhere sometimes still advertises it. If you want dry needling we will tell you who is licensed to provide it rather than pretend we are.
Dry needling is the insertion of a filiform needle into a muscle trigger point. In most of the United States it sits inside the physical therapy scope of practice, and a therapist who trained in Pennsylvania or New Jersey may well have done a great deal of it.
New York is different. The State Board has held dry needling to be an invasive procedure outside the physical therapy scope, and the use of acupuncture needles for any therapeutic purpose here is restricted to licensed acupuncturists and to physicians and dentists certified to practise acupuncture under the Commissioner's regulations. The position is long-standing rather than recent.
What that means for you, practically
If you want dry needling, you want a licensed acupuncturist, or a physician or dentist with the acupuncture certification. Ask us and we will tell you how to find one. We will not perform it, we will not describe something else as though it were it, and we will not send you to somebody unlicensed who will.
If a physical therapy clinic in New York advertises dry needling, one of three things is true: they employ or refer to a licensed acupuncturist and the marketing is careless about saying so, they relocated a website from a state where it is permitted, or they are advertising something they may not lawfully do. The first is common and unremarkable; the third is worth knowing about before you book.
Why we say this rather than just staying quiet
It would be easier to leave the subject alone. A page explaining what we cannot do is not obviously good marketing, and the ordinary approach in this trade is to answer the question only when it is asked in the room.
But scope of practice is not a technicality. It is the part of a licence that tells you what has been examined, supervised and insured, and a clinician who is relaxed about the edge of theirs is telling you something about how they treat the middle of it. A practice that will quietly do the thing it may not do is a practice that will quietly bill for the thing it did not do.
What we do instead, and what the evidence for it is
For the trigger points and muscle pain that people usually come to us about needling for, the treatment here is manual: soft tissue work, joint mobilisation where the joint is the problem, and then load. The manual work is comfort and access — it makes the next part possible — and the next part is a progressive exercise programme, because that is the thing with the durable evidence behind it.
We will not tell you dry needling does not work. The evidence for it in the short term is mixed rather than absent, and a fair reading is that it does about what other manual approaches do. What we will tell you is that it is not ours to provide in this state, and that a course of treatment built around any passive technique — needle, machine or hand — is a course built around the wrong half of the job.
In order
How this works in practice
You ask about dry needling
It is a reasonable question and a very common one, particularly from people who had it elsewhere.
We tell you the New York position
It is outside the physical therapy scope of practice here. Not our policy — the State Board's determination.
We tell you who may provide it
Licensed acupuncturists, and physicians and dentists certified under the Commissioner's regulations.
We explain what we would do instead
Manual work to make movement tolerable, then loaded exercise, which is the part with the durable evidence.
You decide, with the whole picture
Including the option of having both. Nothing about seeing an acupuncturist prevents you being treated here.
Questions we are actually asked
Why we do not do dry needling — frequently asked
Can physical therapists do dry needling in New York?
No. The New York State Board has determined that dry needling is an invasive procedure outside the physical therapy scope of practice, and acupuncture needles may be used here only by licensed acupuncturists and by physicians and dentists certified to practise acupuncture. New York is one of only four states that takes this position, alongside California, Utah and Hawaii.
I had dry needling from a physical therapist in another state. Was that legal?
Very probably, yes. Most states permit it within the physical therapy scope of practice, sometimes with additional training requirements. The rule is a state one, not a national one, which is exactly why the question causes so much confusion when somebody moves here.
But I saw a New York PT clinic advertising it.
Then either they have a licensed acupuncturist on the premises and the advertising is not being careful about who does what, or the website came from a state where it is permitted, or they are advertising something they may not lawfully provide. We would ask which, before booking.
Is dry needling the same as acupuncture?
The needle is the same and the theory behind where it goes is different — dry needling targets muscular trigger points rather than the points of traditional Chinese medicine. New York's rule attaches to the instrument rather than to the theory, which is why the answer here does not depend on what the practitioner calls it.
What do you offer for trigger points and muscle pain?
Hands-on soft tissue work and joint mobilisation to make movement tolerable, and then a progressive loading programme, which is the part that produces durable change. The manual work is not the treatment; it is what buys you the range and the comfort to do the treatment.
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