Animal Acupuncture

Here's some interesting info on animal acupuncture:

Acupuncture in Animals—How Is it Different from Human Use?

The principles underlying the use of acupuncture to treat pain and other medical ailments in humans are essentially the same in animals, but the practice of veterinary acupuncture is quite different and less well-defined due to the physiological differences among animal species and the changing views on how acupuncture works, according to a report in a recent issue (Volume 13, Number 5) of Alternative and Complementary Therapies, a publication of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

The paper is available free online

Narda Robinson, DO, DVM, MS, Shipley Professor in Complementary and Alternative Medicine at Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Fort Collins, describes the application of acupuncture techniques in various animal species in the paper entitled, “Veterinary Acupuncture: An Ancient Tradition for Modern Times.”

Several safe and effective methods of acupuncture stimulation in animals exist to treat conditions such as back pain, non-surgical lameness and colic in horses, reproductive problems in cows, neurologic injury and arthritis in dogs, and sinusitis in snakes. These techniques include dry needling, in which a thin sterile needle is inserted at an acupuncture point.

Moxibustion involves the heating of acupuncture points using a smoldering herb wrapped in wax paper. In electroacupuncture, the needle is attached to an electrical lead to enable the delivery of an electrical stimulus to the acupuncture point.

With regard to the technique known as “gold bead implantation,” which is sometimes used to treat hip dysplasia in dogs, Robinson says that “gold bead implantation is an ineffective and possibly harmful technique that warrants serious re-evaluation.”

Robinson also presents some of the challenges associated with transposing acupuncture points used in humans to animal species. Identifying appropriate placement points along the back is complicated by the varying numbers of vertebrae both between and within animal species. Humans have 12 thoracic vertebrae, whereas horses have 18, for example.

In those animal species with tails, the tail contains nerve and vascular structures that may be appropriate stimulation sites for treating disorders such as back pain or fecal incontinence. Similarly, the hand, which contains one of the strongest acupuncture points in the human body—the point Hegu or LI4, does not have a transposable counterpart in animal physiology that would allow veterinarians to translate acupuncture points used in humans directly to animal species.

Alternative and Complementary Therapies provides the latest information on evaluating alternative therapies and integrating them into everyday clinical practice. Topics include integrative medicine; botanical medicine; acupuncture and Chinese medicine; vitamins and supplements; nutrition and diet; holistic medicine; mind-body medicine; ayurveda, traditional medicine, homeopathy and naturopathy; yoga and bodywork; and massage therapies.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Medical Acupuncture, Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, and Journal of Women’s Health. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 60 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at www.liebertpub.com

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.140 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY 10801www.liebertpub.com Phone (914) 740-2100(800) M-LIEBERTFax (914) 740-2101