NCCAOM's POSITION ON DRY NEEDLING:

LICENSED VS. CERTIFIED ACUPUNCTURISTS VS. DRY NEEDLING
  • When looking for a qualified acupuncturist in your area for serious concerns, chronic conditions, or long-term benefits, start your search for practitioners who are licensed acupuncturists (L.Ac.). They will have the highest level of training in the field.
  • A Dry Needling / Acupuncture Certificate can be obtained in a 1-2 day seminar, while a License Requires several years of study, board exams, thousands of hours of supervised clinic rotations and continuing education.​

LICENSED ACUPUNCTURISTS:

  • Licensed acupuncturists (LAc) with an average of 2,700+ hours of master’s-level training
  • Master’s level, on-site training at a nationally accredited school or college of acupuncture
  • Hundreds of hours of clinical experience and at least 250 actual patient treatments before licensure
  • Required to pass the national certification exam in acupuncture in order to become licensed (NCCAOM)
  • Required to do regular continuing education to maintain national certification


​DRY NEEDLE PRACTITIONERS:
  • Certified physician or chiropractors with as little as 50 hours of training
  • Training which is often comprised of home study and/or weekend seminars
  • Minimal clinical experience in acupuncture or no actual patient treatments before certification
  • Not required to complete the national certification examination to prove competency in acupuncture
  • Not required to regularly complete continuing education courses