DRY NEEDLING
STATE PRACTICE ACTS
Dry needling has grown rapidly in clinical physical therapy practice, yet state practice acts and Board regulations vary in how they define the physical therapy scope as it relates to dry needling and what they require for clinicians to perform the skill legally and safely.
Dry Needling Practice Acts
State-By-State
Allowed
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Washington, D.C.
Silent/Ambiguous
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania
Not Permitted
California, Hawaii, New York, Oregon
state-by-state rules + regulations
Alabama - Practice Act
Alaska - Practice Act
Arizona - Practice Act - 24 hours required; must provide proof of compliance with qualifications within 30 days of course
Arkansas - Practice Act
California - NOT PERMITTED
Colorado - Practice Act - 50 hours required, 40 hours must be in-person, must complete 30 hours prior to clinic use; 4 years to complete 50 hours
Connecticut - Practice Act
Delaware - Practice Act - 2 years licensed practice required; 54 in-person hours required, 25 hours prior to clinic use; 2 years to complete 54 hours
Florida - Practice Act - 2 years licensed practice required; 50 in-person hours required; 25 supervised sessions required; submit PT attestation form to Board within 60 days of intent to use clinically; report adverse event within 15 days to Board
Georgia - Rule 490-9-.05 - 50 in-person hours required; submit documentation of DN education and training into the online recording
Hawaii - NOT PERMITTED
Idaho - Guidance Document - 1 year licensed practice required; 27 hours required with no less than 16 hours hands-on (hours requirement currently under review)
Illinois - Practice Act - 54 practicum hours required; 200 supervised patient treatment sessions required
Indiana - 842 IAC 1-6-2 - 50 hours required, 40 hours must be in-person
Iowa - 2016 Ruling
Kansas - KAR 100-29-18 - after course completion, therapist must log 200 sessions before taking a successive course
Kentucky - KRS 327.010(1)
Louisiana - Practice Act - 25 in-person hours required
Maine - Guideline
Maryland - Dry Needling Registration Regulations - 2 years licensed practice required; 80 in-person hours required (40 hours theory, 40 hours practical); register with Board of Examiners ($100), turn in notarized self-certification form to Board
Massachusetts - Bill H24-.15
Michigan - MCL 333.16501
Minnesota - DN Stance - Practice Act
Mississippi - Regulations - 50 hours; must be completed in 12 months; Board course approval forms
Missouri - Practice Act
Montana - BOE Rule
Nebraska - NRS 172-137
Nevada - NRS 640 - 25 hours required; 150 CAPTE approved didactic hours (typically fulfilled in DPT education); submit proof of compliance with qualifications (R054-19)
New Hampshire - FAQs - Board follows FSBPT recommendations
New Jersey - PL2021c.382 - 2 years licensed practice required; 80 in-person hours required (40 academic, 40 hands-on instruction); 10 additional hours every 2 years
New Mexico - Practice Act - 6 months licensed practice required; 24 hours required
New York - NOT PERMITTED
North Carolina - Position Statement - 1 year licensed practice required; 50 hours required; submit proof of completion of Board-approved course
North Dakota - Position Statement
Ohio - Practice Act - specifies it is not within PTA practice act
Oklahoma - Practice Act
Oregon - NOT PERMITTED
Pennsylvania - House Bill 2070
Rhode Island - Dry Needling Regulations
South Carolina - Practice Act
South Dakota - Law 36-10-52 - fully remote does not meet course requirements
Tennessee - Dry Needling Regulations - 1 year licensed practice unless PT meets requirements in paragraph 2 of 1150-01-22; 24 hours required
Texas - Practice Act
Utah - Practice Act - 2 years licensed practice required; 54 in-person hours required; 250 supervised patient hours required; must file certificate of completion and register with Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL) - HB 188-58-24b-306
Vermont - Statutes
Virginia - VAC 112-20-121
Washington - RCW 18.74.010 - 75 in-person hours required; 100 hours didactic instruction required; 150 session for review required and must be completed in 18 months; must apply for endorsement certification (WAC 246-915-390)
Washington D.C. - Guidance Document - online or self-study-only courses are not accepted
West Virginia - Practice Act
Wisconsin - Statutes
Wyoming - Rule SS-7-3 - 27 in-person hours required
Professional Mentoring
Expert guidance. Confident clinical decision-making.
Our professional mentoring provides individualized support for pelvic health clinicians seeking to deepen their clinical reasoning, refine advanced skills, and navigate complex patient presentations. Through one-on-one mentorship, participants gain practical, evidence-informed guidance that bridges education and real-world practice—supporting confident, competent, and effective care.
Educational Resources
We understand that navigating educational resources can be challenging. The quality of education matters for both the practitioners receiving the education and the patients who will be seeking out services from those providers. Here are some of our favorite education companies within the pelvic health and dry needling arenas.
Full Course Cancellation + Refund Policy
Cancellation by Sponsor
PPHC is committed to successfully executing the courses on our schedule. In the event of unforeseeable events beyond the control of PPHC (a non-exhaustive list of which include: natural disaster, war, terrorism, labor strike, cancellation of flights by airlines or other circumstances related to travel plans that prevent an instructor or teaching assistant from arriving at a course in a timely manner, or severe illness or death of the instructor, teaching assistant, etc.) a good faith effort will be made to execute the course or an acceptable substitute course. However, if a course cannot be held as a result of any of the above unforeseeable events (or for other unforeseeable events not list above) then the following terms apply:
A. Registrations that are eligible for a refund (the course is more than 30 days in the future AND the registration was created less than 60 days ago) remain so. See section "Cancelation and Receiving a Refund" below.
B. Registrations not eligible for a refund will be converted to registrant credit that can be used toward any future course-event taking place within 2 years of the date on which the course-event in question is cancelled.
C. PPHC will not be held liable for any expenses or costs that cancelled-course-registrants incurred related to: travel, lodging, missed work, airfare, ground transportation, meals, or any other costs related to their attempting to attend a cancelled course-event.
Cancellation by Site Host
PPHC relies on our hosting sites to partner with us to successfully execute the events held at host facilities. In the event of cancellation by the Site Host due to unforeseeable events beyond the control of PPHC (a non-exhaustive list of which include: natural disaster, war, terrorism, labor strike, any other consideration that causes the host site to shut down its facilities) a good faith effort will be made to execute the course or an acceptable substitute course. However, if a course cannot be held as a result of any of the above unforeseeable events (or for other unforeseeable events not list above) then the following terms apply:
A. All registrations will be converted to registrant credit that can be used toward any future course-event taking place within 2 years of the date on which the course-event in question is cancelled.
B. PPHC will not be held liable for any expenses or costs that cancelled-course-registrants incurred related to: travel, lodging, missed work, airfare, ground transportation, meals, or any other costs related to their attempting to attend a cancelled course-event.
Cancellation by Participant
Should a registrant wish to cancel their registration, the following terms apply:
Cancellation and Receiving a Refund
A participant may cancel their registration in a given course, and receive a refund (less a $75 administrative fee), if he or she notifies PPHC of their desire to cancel their registration and receive a refund before whichever of the following days arrives first:
1. The 60th day following the original registration date.
2. The 30th day preceding the start date of the course of the original registration.
The $75 administrative cancellation fee applies with ABSOLUTELY NO exceptions. If a participants wishes to cancel two or more registrations in this manner, each subsequent cancellation after the first shall carry a $25 administration cancellation fee.
Cancellation Without Receiving a Refund:
Should a registrant wish to cancel their registration and either transfer to another course or convert their registration fees to registrant credit, they must inform via phone, voicemail, email, or website form submission to PPHC of their intention BEFORE the start of the course-event for which they are registered. Once a course-event commences (i.e. the first lecture begins), all registrants who have not communicated to PPHC their intention to transfer/convert-to-credit their registration fee for the course-event in question are no longer eligible to transfer/convert-to-credit their registration fee for the course-event in question REGARDLESS of their physical presence, or lack thereof, at the location of the course-event. In other words, if a registrant pays to attend a course and then forgets to attend, or wishes to cancel/transfer but does not inform PPHC before the start of the course-event, they are neither entitled to a refund, nor to apply their registration fee toward a future course-event, be it known or unknown.
At any point before the first lecture of a course starts, participants may cancel their registration and:
1. Transfer registration fees towards a future course at no financial penalty. Once a registrant transfers from one course to another, that registrant may use the registration fees from their original registration toward a course(s) with a start-date within two years of the registration's "original transfer date".
OR
2. Instruct PPHC to convert their registration fees to credit to be used toward some course-event to be named in the future at no financial penalty. Regardless of the number and nature of transfers, cancelations, conversions to credit; fees for a cancelled registration may only be used toward a course-event with a start date of less than 2 years from the date the registrant cancelled their original registration.