It used to be that acupuncture was rare in the United States. Acupuncturists were few and far between, not to mention shunned by the conventional medical community. Now, acupuncture research has proven its effectiveness so many practitioners in the Western medical field want to adopt it as part of their treatment protocol. Some MDs have begun to take acupuncture classes, but by far the largest group to embrace acupuncture is the Physical Therapy community. Physical Therapists traditionally treat musculo-skeletal pain disorders and are looking to include acupuncture in their tool kit. However, to avoid the lengthy, time consuming training that licensed Acupuncturists receive PTs have developed a new protocol called Dry Needling. Dry Needling isn’t really new, it’s really just a few acupuncture techniques called by a different name. However, studies show Dry Needling is less effective than Acupuncture. It could be because Dry Needling uses only a small part of the traditional Acupuncture system. Or it may be that Dry Needling practitioners receive only 26 hours of training, versus the over 600 hours of classroom training received by licensed Acupuncturists. So, if you are searching for a competent acupuncture practitioner, be sure to find out their credentials and training. Not everyone has the same training.

Did you know that the U.S. military is using acupuncture on the battle field to reduce stress and pain in injured soldiers? A special type of acupuncture protocol called battlefield acupuncture is being taught to soldiers as part of their emergency medical training. Military officials like the fact that acupuncture brings relief and reduces the need for drugs. Read the story from NPR for more information.