Acupuncture

Acupuncture is an alternative therapy used to treat multiple disease processes in our pets.  It has been recognized for thousands of years as a treatment originating from ancient Chinese Medicine.  Acupuncture works by placing small needles into certain points to restore balance in the body.  These specific points throughout the body contain many nerve endings, pain receptors, and blood vessels.  Stimulating these points causes the body to release multiple factors, which aid in pain control, decrease inflammation, restore blood flow, and restore Qi.  Qi is considered the body’s energy, which needs to remain balanced to maintain good mental and physical health.  When Qi becomes off-balanced, illness occurs.  Acupuncture’s main goal is to use needle stimulation to restore the body’s Qi and rebalance the individual, thus leading to improvement or resolution of clinical disease.  

In veterinary medicine, we use acupuncture for a multitude of reasons.  The most common ailment treated is pain, most likely due to arthritis or injury.  Placing needles in acupuncture points associated with the source of pain will help release endorphins, block pain receptors, and restore energy flow in the area, ultimately leading to increased healing.  Additionally, acupuncture can be used to treat metabolic imbalances, such as kidney or liver disease.  Neurologic disorders, like epilepsy, can also be helped by balancing Qi within the body through needling.  Truly, any illness your pet may have could be treated with acupuncture therapy.  

Acupuncture sessions are designed to be relaxing for the patients.  Veterinary sessions take approximately 20-30 minutes.  Needle placement should not be painful.  However, occasionally the needle hits the center of the acupuncture point, which can cause a quick stinging sensation.  The most common types of needling consist of dry needling (just single needles in points) and electroacupuncture, which uses a special machine to send electric signals between the needles, thus stimulating multiple areas of the body and treating Qi imbalances more aggressively.  This procedure is not painful, although they can react to the sensation of the electric current when they first feel it.

Acupuncture is becoming a wonderful alternative to traditional Eastern Medicine treatments, as well as a great complimentary tool for some of our medical therapies.  We are very excited to be bringing this to the clinic!  Please reach out for additional information or if you have any other questions!