Dry Needling in Florida: Authorized Providers and Training Rules

In Florida, four types of licensed healthcare professionals can legally perform dry needling: physical therapists, chiropractic physicians, licensed acupuncturists, and medical doctors or osteopathic physicians. Each works under a different licensing board, and each faces a different set of training and certification rules before touching a needle to a patient. The answer to who can perform dry needling in Florida depends entirely on which type of provider you walk into.

Physical Therapists

Physical therapists face the most detailed requirements. Under Section 486.117, the Board of Physical Therapy Practice sets minimum standards every PT must meet before performing dry needling.¹

A qualifying PT needs at least two years of licensed practice in any state or the District of Columbia, followed by 50 hours of face-to-face continuing education on dry needling from an accredited provider. Online courses do not count. The instructor has to confirm the PT demonstrated the hands-on skills to perform the procedure safely.¹

The required coursework has to cover the theory of dry needling, needle selection and safe handling (including biohazard disposal), indications and contraindications, the psychomotor skills of palpation and needle insertion and removal, and post-treatment care including adverse-event management and recordkeeping.

Classroom work is not enough on its own. The PT also has to complete at least 25 supervised patient sessions. The supervisor must be a licensed physical therapist who has actively performed dry needling for at least one year. A PT who already completed 25 sessions while licensed in another state, or while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, can satisfy this requirement that way instead.¹

Two more rules matter from a patient’s perspective. Dry needling cannot happen without your documented consent, and it has to be part of your written plan of care for a neuromusculoskeletal condition. And a PT cannot hand the procedure off to a physical therapist assistant, an aide, or anyone else who isn’t a qualified PT. Florida law explicitly bars delegation here.²

Florida statute also specifies that dry needling performed by a PT is not acupuncture. That distinction matters because the physical therapy practice act otherwise prohibits PTs from practicing acupuncture as defined under Chapter 457.¹

Chiropractic Physicians

Chiropractors can perform dry needling in Florida, but only after obtaining a separate certification from the Board of Chiropractic Medicine. Florida’s chiropractic practice act explicitly includes “monofilament intramuscular stimulation treatment, also known as dry needling, for trigger points or myofascial pain” within the scope of chiropractic medicine. Section 460.4085 sets the certification path.³

Training hours depend on whether the chiropractor already holds a chiropractic acupuncture certification. Without it, the requirement is 40 hours of in-person continuing education on dry needling. With it, the requirement drops to 24 hours. Either way, the chiropractor must pass a written and practical examination. That exam cannot be waived, even for equivalent training completed elsewhere, and online or distance courses do not qualify.³

After the coursework and exam, the chiropractor completes at least 10 supervised patient sessions. The supervisor can be a licensed chiropractor, an MD or DO, or a physical therapist with a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree who has actively performed dry needling for at least one year. Once documentation is submitted, the Board issues a certification letter authorizing dry needling practice.³

As with PTs, chiropractors must obtain patient consent before performing dry needling and must educate the patient on risks and potential adverse events. The procedure has to be documented in the patient’s plan of care.⁴

Licensed Acupuncturists

Licensed acupuncturists do not need a separate dry needling certification. Needle insertion for pain and dysfunction already sits within their licensed scope. Florida defines acupuncture as a form of primary health care that includes “the insertion of acupuncture needles” along with related therapies for the promotion, maintenance, and restoration of health.⁵

Their training already covers extensive sterile technique and needle safety work, and Florida law requires that all acupuncture needles be sterile, disposable, and used only once.⁶

Worth knowing: Florida maintains a legal distinction between dry needling performed by PTs and chiropractors (treated as a Western-medicine trigger point procedure) and needle insertion by acupuncturists (classified under traditional Chinese medical concepts). The techniques can look similar in the room, but they fall under different boards with different rules. An acupuncturist treating trigger point pain is working within the acupuncture framework, not the dry needling framework.

Medical Doctors and Osteopathic Physicians

MDs licensed under Chapter 458 and DOs licensed under Chapter 459 can perform dry needling under their broad medical licenses. Florida law does not impose a specific hour-based training requirement or a separate certification process on physicians for this procedure. They are expected to meet the general standard of care, meaning adequate training and competency before performing any procedure on a patient.

The statutes confirm physician authority indirectly: Section 460.4085 names “allopathic or osteopathic physicians” as qualified supervisors for chiropractic dry needling sessions, which assumes physicians are themselves competent to perform the technique.³

Providers Who Cannot Perform Dry Needling

Two groups cause the most confusion.

Occupational therapists are not currently authorized to perform dry needling in Florida as of early 2026. A bill introduced in the 2026 session (HB 867) would authorize OTs under requirements mirroring those for physical therapists: two years of practice, 50 hours of continuing education, and 25 supervised sessions. Until that bill becomes law, the procedure stays outside their scope.

Physical therapist assistants are explicitly prohibited from performing dry needling, even under direct supervision. The statute names PTAs as one of the groups a physical therapist cannot delegate the procedure to.¹

Massage therapists, personal trainers, athletic trainers, and other practitioners without one of the four license types above cannot perform the procedure in Florida.

Training Requirements Side By Side

The training burden varies sharply by profession:

Physical therapists: 2 years of licensed practice, 50 hours of face-to-face education, and 25 supervised patient sessions.
Chiropractors without acupuncture certification: 40 hours of in-person education, a written and practical exam, and 10 supervised sessions.
Chiropractors with acupuncture certification: 24 hours of in-person education, the same exam, and 10 supervised sessions.
Acupuncturists: no additional certification; needle insertion is part of baseline licensure.
MDs and DOs: no specific hour requirements; must meet the general standard of care.

How To Verify Your Provider Is Qualified

Before your first session, confirm a few things.

Check the license. Any Florida healthcare license can be verified at FL HealthSource (flhealthsource.gov). Confirm the provider holds one of the four license types authorized to perform dry needling and that the license is active.

Ask about dry needling training specifically. For a PT, that means at least 50 hours of face-to-face coursework and 25 supervised sessions. For a chiropractor, ask to see the certification letter the Board of Chiropractic Medicine issued after they completed training and passed the exam. For an acupuncturist, their standard license covers the work. For a physician, ask what training and experience they have with the procedure.

Confirm consent and documentation practices. Florida law requires informed consent before dry needling, and for chiropractic patients the provider must specifically educate you on the risks and potential adverse events.³ If no one is walking you through risks before the needles come out, that is a reason to pause.

Ask about sterile technique. Single-use, disposable needles are required by Florida law for acupuncturists and are standard practice across the other provider types. There is no reason not to ask.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 486.117 – Physical Therapist; Performance of Dry Needling
2
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code 64B17-6.008 – Minimum Standards of Practice for the Performance of Dry Needling
3
Florida Senate. Florida Code 460.4085 – Performance of Dry Needling by Chiropractic Physicians
4
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code 64B2-17.004 – Dry Needling
5
Florida Senate. Florida Code 457.102 – Definitions
6
Florida Senate. Florida Code 457.1085 – Infection Control