Acupuncture is a form of holistic treatment that has been around for over 3,000 years. It originated in China and is a component of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM). The other components of TCVM include Chinese Herbal Medicine, Food Therapy, and Tui Na (a Chinese method of massage and manipulation). Acupuncture differs from Western medicine (drug therapy) in that a diagnosis is not necessary for successful treatment because TCVM treats patterns of imbalance in the body that when rebalanced enable the body to heal itself. Acupuncture and TCVM are not substitutes for Western medicine but can work well as an adjunct in patients who fail to respond to appropriate Western treatments or when Western treatments are not enough (to quell arthritis pain for instance when medication alone does not help enough).
Most often acupuncture is accomplished via the insertion of very thin, filamentous needles (like those pictured above) into selected acupoints on the body. The needles are usually left in for varying amounts of time ranging from a few seconds to several minutes. Often an electrostimulator will be hooked up and a very small electrical current will be run through selected needles to achieve a greater stimulation. This works especially well for nerve injury and disc disease. Occasionally an herb called Moxa will be placed against the needles to acheive a different type of stimulation. For needle-phobic patients, special devices using various different waves of light including lasers and LACER (Light Activated Cellular Energy Resonance) may be used.
What conditions can acupuncture treat?
Acupuncture is most often used to treat painful conditions such as arthritis, post-operative pain, cancer pain, and pain without a determined cause. However, acupuncture can be helpful for many other conditions including but not limited to: kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, hormonal problems (especially incontinence), infertility problems, anxiety, inappetance, eye diseases, skin diseases (especially allergies). Acupuncture has been shown to be very helpful in the case of nerve injury and intervertebral disc disease (common in short, long-backed dog breeds). Please read on to learn how acupuncture may be able to help your pet.
Acupuncture is a form of holistic treatment that has been around for over 3,000 years. It originated in China and is a component of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM). The other components of TCVM include Chinese Herbal Medicine, Food Therapy, and Tui Na (a Chinese method of massage and manipulation). Acupuncture differs from Western medicine (drug therapy) in that a diagnosis is not necessary for successful treatment because TCVM treats patterns of imbalance in the body that when rebalanced enable the body to heal itself. Acupuncture and TCVM are not substitutes for Western medicine but can work well as an adjunct in patients who fail to respond to appropriate Western treatments or when Western treatments are not enough (to quell arthritis pain for instance when medication alone does not help enough).