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Practitioners urge board to issue consumer advisory and outreach on unlicensed dry needling
Summary
The California Acupuncture Board Licensing Committee heard public calls for a consumer advisory about unlicensed dry needling, outreach to athletic programs and inclusion of dry needling in a consumer brochure to prevent injuries and protect patients.
Multiple public commenters urged the California Acupuncture Board Licensing Committee to take preventative measures against unlicensed dry needling and to increase public awareness about who is legally permitted to perform needling therapies.
Ryan McCarthy, representing the California Acupuncture Coalition, described reports of athletes receiving dry needling from physical therapists who are “unlicensed to practice acupuncture,” and urged the board to issue a consumer advisory and to add dry needling guidance to the board’s brochure. “We would strongly encourage the board to adopt… a consumer advisory warning against unlicensed dry needling on the CAB website and through the Department of Consumer Affairs,” McCarthy said.
Lynn Yang (speaking for AACMA) urged regulatory safeguards rather than total bans for techniques such as therapeutic bleeding and acupotomy, recommending mandatory didactic and clinical training for higher‑risk manual or tool-based therapies. “A complete ban on these techniques would not serve the public interest,” she said, and proposed mandatory training requirements for acupotomy to protect patients.
Several commenters and board members also argued that many recognized needling techniques—often labeled "dry needling," "trigger point needling" or other names—fall within the statutory definition of acupuncture when they penetrate the skin. Philip Young, a university president, said dry needling “is essentially the same” as acupuncture and argued for unifying needling techniques under the acupuncture scope so the public is less likely to be confused by differing names and training standards.
Board staff and counsel noted that the board’s enforcement options are complaint-driven, and that outreach and consumer education are within the board’s ability. Staff encouraged associations to coordinate outreach to athletics programs and other organizations where unlicensed needling has been reported.
The committee did not vote on rulemaking related to dry needling but accepted public comment and asked staff to document stakeholder requests for possible follow-up actions, including consumer advisories, outreach and brochure updates.
