Jan Dommerholt, PT, DPT, MPS

Dr. Jan Dommerholt is an accomplished and experienced Dutch-trained physical therapist. In addition to his physical therapy education, he has studied at New York University, where he completed a course of study in Performing Artists Disorders (NYU Human Performance Analysis Laboratory). He completed a Master of Professional Studies with a concentration in biomechanical trauma and health administration from Lynn University and a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. Dr. Dommerholt is also a former Diplomate of the Academy of Integrative Pain Management (before the society went out of business) and a member of several medical and physical therapy professional organizations.

Dr. Dommerholt is a recognized expert in the physical therapy diagnosis and treatment of persons with myofascial pain syndrome, chronic pain syndromes, and whiplash-associated disorders.

He has published several books, over 130 articles, and nearly 80 chapters in medical and physical therapy textbooks on myofascial pain, chronic pain conditions, fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, and whiplash. Dr. Dommerholt had prepared a quarterly literature review column on myofascial pain syndrome for the Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain for 17 years, and later for the Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies.

As a former clarinetist and saxophonist, Dr. Dommerholt has combined his interests in music and physical therapy to specialize in diagnosing and treating musicians with musculoskeletal problems. His final thesis in his physical therapy education was titled Musica et Medicina and focused on the medical problems of wind instrumentalists. Since then, he has authored several articles on performing arts physical therapy and contributed chapters to leading medical textbooks on performing arts medicine. 

Dr. Dommerholt has studied physical therapy approaches for persons with craniomandibular pain and completed an advanced internship with Dr. Mariano Rocabado in Santiago, Chile. Since his collaboration there, he has also published in this field and is one of the few physical therapy members in Maryland of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain. His contributions and expertise were recognized when the AAOP invited him two years in a row to be an invited speaker at its annual conference. In addition, the AAOP selected Dr. Dommerholt to teach a certification program in dry needling for orofacial pain and headaches geared toward dentists and physical therapists. Furthermore, Jan collaborates frequently with Dr. Harry von Piekartz, founder of the Cranio Facial Therapy Academy, with whom he conducts workshops and courses on craniomandibular pain.

In 1997, Dr. Dommerholt introduced dry needling to the United States, which has grown in popularity for chronic pain treatment. He has written many articles, studies, books, book chapters, and invited commentaries and editorials about dry-needling and has assisted many state boards professional organizations, and even the Department of Health of Kuwait on dry needling and physical therapy practice. The Maryland Board of Physical Therapy Examiners recognizes him as a specialized dry-needling practitioner.

Dr. Dommerholt has taught hundreds of courses and lectured at over 80 conferences throughout the United States, Australia, Europe, Central, and South America, and the Middle East while maintaining an active clinical practice.

Besides his role as a physical therapist and Bethesda Physiocare® president, Dr. Dommerholt is on the editorial board of the Journal of Manual and Manipulative Therapy, Cuestiones de Fisioterapia, and the Journal of Invasive Therapies in Physical Therapy.  He is a frequent reviewer of submitted articles for many journals, including Physical Therapy, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Clinical Journal of Pain, American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Therapies, and many others.

Dr. Dommerholt is an Honorary Member of the Iranian Physiotherapy Association and of the Polish Association of Invasive Physiotherapy. In 2016, he received the Janet G. Travell Excellence in Education Award from the National Association of Myofascial Trigger Point Therapists. The American Physical Therapy Association recognized his achievements by awarding him the 2014 Henry O. and Florence P. Kendall Practice Award.

Dr. Dommerholt is a Lecturer at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science, Baltimore, MD, and an International Advisor and Honorary Faculty of the Department of Physiotherapy, School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.