Acupuncture is a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It involves the insertion of needles into specific points of healing. This technique has been used in veterinary practices in China for over 4,000 years to treat many types of diseases. Modern veterinary acupuncturists use a variety of techniques including dry needles, (solid, very thin needles) aqua puncture, acupressure, massage, hemo-acupuncture, and electrical acupuncture. Acupuncture is used worldwide either by itself or in conjunction with traditional western medicine. Western medicine treats a specific problem with a specific drug. TMC, however, looks for an underlying imbalance in the body that allows a condition to occur and tries to correct the imbalance.
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When is acupuncture indicated?
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Acupuncture can be used for a wide variety of conditions. Acute, sudden problems, such as infections are often better served using traditional western methods. However, chronic (long term) problems for which western medicine often has limited effectiveness, may respond to acupuncture. Some general conditions that may be treated with acupuncture:
-Muscular skeletal problems (arthritis, and disc injuries)
-Skin problems (lick granulomas, allergies)
-GI diseases (inflammatory bowel disease, chronic diarrhea, colitis)
-Respiratory disease ( feline asthma, chronic upper respiratory infections)
-Systemic diseases (chronic renal failure, diabetes, seizures)
-Chronic ear infections
and many other diseases!
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How does acupuncture work?
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In traditional Chinese medicine, disease is a result of an imbalance of energy (Qi) in the body. AP acts to balance the energy and assist the body to heal.
In Western terms, AP can stimulate nerves to increase circulation, relieve muscle spasms, and cause the release of substances like endorphin, seratonin, and cortisol. It is known that AP will not work if the nervous system is not intact. Also effects are minimal if needles are used in non-AP points. Although many of AP's effects have been studied, many are still unknown. Further research is being actively pursued to discover all of AP's effects and its proper uses in veterinary medicine.
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