Certification in “The Original Dry Needling Method” (CDN)

Based on a resource paper published by the American Physical Therapy Association “dry Needling is an invasive technique used by physical therapists (where allowed by state law) to treat myofascial pain that uses a dry needle, without medication or injection, which is inserted into areas of the muscle known as trigger points. A trigger point describes a taut band of skeletal muscle located within a larger muscle group. Trigger points can be tender to the touch and can refer pain to distant parts of the body. Physical therapists utilize dry needling with the goal of releasing/inactivating the trigger points and relieving pain. Preliminary research supports that dry needling improves pain control, reduces muscle tension, normalizes biochemical and electrical dysfunction of motor endplates, and facilitates an accelerated return to active rehabilitation.”

In 2009 the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapists in a position statement declared that intramuscular/dry needling is within the scope of PT practice.

This Hands-On Seminars training is appropriate for: Licensed PTs (& 3rd year PT students), ATCs, DCs, MDs, DOs, NPs, PAs, DPMs, DDSs, OTs, or Acupuncturists in their respective state or country.

Hands-On Seminars’ founders Dr. Dimitrios Kostopoulos & Dr. Konstantine Rizopoulos are pioneers in the dry needling technique and have applied and taught this technique since 1990. In 1992 when the acupuncture lobby fought against physical therapists performing dry needling, Drs Kostopoulos & Rizopoulos published the first defense paper for PTs in Empire State Physical Therapy magazine. It has been a longstanding position of the Hands-On Seminars founders that Dry Needling is not a proprietary treatment exclusive to any one profession, rather a treatment that can be practiced by any qualified and properly trained professional whose licensing authority allows the use of a thin filamentous needle for the treatment of MyoFascial Trigger Points.

In a 2012 published article “Points of Clarification: Delineating the distinction between acupuncture and dry needling for trigger-point pain” Dr. Kostopoulos and Dr. Rizopoulos made the case that trigger point dry needling is not acupuncture.

The Hands-On Seminars founders have taught and certified PTs, MDs, DOs and Acupuncturists around the world on how to effectively use this approach.

Certification in Dry Needling (CDN) program is an extensive, comprehensive program that helps novice health care providers evolve their skills from the elementary to an intermediate and finally to an advanced level.

There are several other programs teaching various methods of needling, yet we believe that “how to do it” is less important than “where to do it”. Our programs give significant emphasis to differential diagnosis and muscle selection. This is what makes our graduates extremely effective practitioners in the treatment of myofascial trigger points.

Many dry needling programs compete based on how many muscles they teach students to needle or incorporate non-dry needling acupuncture-type techniques ignoring the roots of dry needling. Dry needling was developed based on real patient problems. “The Original Dry Needling Method” teaches you primarily a proper evaluation system to help you decide the proper muscle systems to treat based on the specific patient problem.