Acupuncture
What is acupuncture?
Acupuncture has been practiced for thousands of years to treat many ailments in humans and animals. Acupuncture is the insertion of needles into specific points on the body to produce a healing response. Each acupuncture point has unique actions.
What conditions can be treated with acupuncture?
Acupuncture can be used to treat a wide variety of conditions. It is mostly used for musculoskeletal conditions or neurologic disorders, but it can also be beneficial for chronic skin allergies, GI disease and respiratory conditions when combined with herbal medication, and food therapy. Acupuncture can safely be combined with conventional Western medicines.
How does acupuncture work?
Recent studies have been done to indicate how acupuncture works. Stimulation of acupuncture points result in specific changes in the central nervous system. By using specific MRI technology, it has been shown that acupuncture points with pain relieving properties associated with them tend to activate specific pain-association brain stem regions. Although many of the effects of acupuncture have been studied, more are still unknown. Further research must be conducted.
Does acupuncture hurt?
For most animals, insertion of the needles is essentially painless. Sometimes, there is a reaction when the needle is placed, but once the needles are in place, the pet should be comfortable and settle into the treatment. Human acupuncture patients have reported tingles, cramps, or numbness which could be uncomfortable to your pet. I will monitor your pet closely for discomfort and remove needles if necessary.
Is acupuncture safe?
Acupuncture is an incredibly safe treatment for animals when it is administered by a veterinarian with proper training. Side effects of acupuncture are rare, but sometimes an animal’s condition may seem worse or they may appear lethargic for up to 48 hours after a treatment. These effects are typically followed by an improvement in the pet’s condition.
Some patients will have a minor histamine release and seem itchy after treatment, but this is rare. It is always important to contact the practitioner if you are concerned about your pet.
How long will it take for my pet to benefit?
For some patients and conditions, benefits can be seen after 1 treatment, but improvement and the time to achieve improvement depends on the condition being treated and the number and frequency of acupuncture treatments. The type of acupuncture used can also affect the treatment period needed.
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