acupuncture

Acupuncture is widely accepted in the veterinary field and more and more veterinarians are performing acupuncture for their patients. 

Acupuncture is used as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool and has been quite successful treating a multiple of illnesses including, but not limited to, musculoskeletal and joint issues, colic, and headaches (in people). Acupuncture is also used for neurologic problems, reproduction, anxiety, and allergies. 

A key benefit in acupuncture over western medicine is that acupuncture helps the body resolve the primary problem where western medicine, in many cases, treats the symptoms. For example, acupuncture can help the body fine tune its immune system to combat allergies, while western medicine often treats the allergy symptoms with a steroid. 

A number of veterinary and people hospitals have acupuncture departments. To name a few, The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, and Veterinary Hospital University of Pennsylvania. People hospitals — Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and The University of Pennsylvania to name two — have them also. 

In 1997, the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) formally recognized acupuncture as an acceptable means of treating patients after documenting the procedure's safety and efficacy for addressing a range of health issues.

Acupuncture is defined as: The Chinese practice of insertion of needles into specific exterior body locations to relieve pain, to induce surgical anesthesia, and for therapeutic purposes. 

Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary.

Acupuncture is the insertion of fine needles at a specific location for fascial and nervous stimulation. This can stimulate or sedate the sympathetic / parasympathetic nervous system. It can stimulate ATP production, historically called Qi or can stimulate or regulate blood and fluid metabolism and flow. 

Cynthia Lankenau DVM, CVA, CVHM, RH.

Acupuncture Facts

• Acupuncture, as other holistic treatment modalities, is receiving greater acceptance in the veterinarian world.  
•  It has become an integral part of veterinary medicine, to the point where some veterinarian schools have added it to their curriculum and services. 
• There is written evidence that human acupuncture has been in existence since 621 B.C., and animal acupuncture since 475 B.C. 
• If it did not work, it would no longer be used. 

Acupuncture Theory

Numerous studies have demonstrated the fact that acupuncture has multiple physiological effects. Acupuncture is based on the nervous system and its relationship with the vascular/endocrine system and can be defined as the stimulation of a specific point on the body, resulting in a therapeutic homeostatic effect. 

The points where the needles are inserted are located in areas where there is a high concentration of nerve endings, mast cells, arterioles, veins, and lymphatic vessels. The stimulation of these areas causes a cascade of events to take place (release of beta-endorphins, serotonin and other neurotransmitters). This results in a local response that then elicits numerous bio-chemical changes within the nervous system and eventually the whole body. 

In acupuncture it is believed that when these pathways are obstructed, interrupted, insufficient or unbalanced, illness occurs. Acupuncture re-establishes these pathways, keeps them open and functional, and allows the body to return to its full capacity of normal function. 

In the horse there are 534 acupuncture points.

Acupuncture Goals

The goal of acupuncture is not only to relieve the patient of symptoms, but to allow the patient’s body to achieve its maximal homeostasis so that the underlying problem, the true basis of the disorder, will be resolved. 

Acupuncture Methods

There are various acupuncture methods. The most common methods used with the horse are: 

• Dry-needle: This is what most of us visualize when we hear the word acupuncture. 
• Electroacupuncture: Electric impulses are passed through the needles using an electroacupuncture machine. 
• Aqua-acupuncture: The administration of a solution in the acupuncture site.
• Moxibustion: The needles are heated using the mugwort herb. 

Acupuncture Uses

Acupuncture is used for multiple medical conditions. Conditions that have been

used with success in veterinary medicine are:

• Musculoskeletal and Performance (back soreness, stiffness, or arthritis)
• Neurologic (paralysis, laryngeal hemiplegia)
• Gastrointestinal (diarrhea, colic)
• Reproductive (infertility, abortion, cryptorchid). This is the second biggest reason acupuncture is used in Kentucky.
• Endocrine (agalactia:  the failure of milk secretion)
• Respiratory (heaves)
• Immune system (allergies)
• Dermatology (allergies)
• Oncology (primarily in small animal)

Conclusion

Acupuncture is a valuable tool for veterinarians to help horses and other pets feel, function, and move properly and help them be the best they can be.