Animal acupuncture may seem super far fetched, but in today’s article, we’ll get straight to the point of this soothing Chinese medicine method. We hope we can provide enough information for you paw parents so you can easily decide on whether or not acupuncture would be the right fit for your dog’s health and well-being.
Chinese medicine surrounds the Daoist ideas and beliefs that your body (and pup’s body) are extensions of the universe, with any imbalances in energy causing disease.
Being able to identify the disharmony in the body allows acupuncturists to help a person’s or feline’s or canine’s energy or “qi”. In Chinese medicine, animals and us humans have Meridian energy channels that can be the center of focus during acupuncture treatments. This channel is where the energy flows or the “qi” flows.
What is Dog Acupuncture?
In a w”holistic” sense, acupuncture is a complementary treatment method in Chinese medicine in which thin needles are input into key points on the body’s surface to stimulate vessels, nerves, and tissues, without releasing blood.
This is commonly practiced in us humans but has also formed as an approach to orthopedic pain and inflammation as part of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine.
While it may seem like a new holistic treatment approach offered to your dog or cat, Traditional Chinese Veterinarian Medicine has been using acupuncture to treat animals for thousands and thousands of years!
A licensed acupuncture practitioner, who has studied Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, performs the treatment on your pet. The needles are inserted into different acupuncture points, stimulating physiological processes through neural signaling. There are 14 energy channels and 360 acupoints on the body.
Once the needles are inserted into the skin, they are rotated gently and slowly. Through the process of rotating the needles, the connective tissue under the skin becomes stimulated, creating a signaling pathway for the nervous system to respond. Most of the time, the response ignited in the nervous system brings forth anti-inflammatory actions.
How Can Acupuncture Help?
Acupuncture may assist and help with various concerns. It is commonly used to bring relief to different areas as well as stimulating an appropriate response to the body’s signals to the brain.
It can help ease signs and symptoms brought on by adverse effects of medications. For dogs or cats that no longer respond to pain or inflammation medication, an acupuncturist can step in to help!
This longtime healing practice can help canines with the following concerns:
- Trauma
- Metabolic disease relief
- General pain management
- Help regulate hormones
- Improves insulin sensitivity
- Helps with GI disorders
- Helps with skin condition relief
- Neurological diseases
- Musculoskeletal conditions
- Allergy and asthma relief
- Urinary concerns
What are the Benefits of Acupuncture?
Beyond the idea of using needles, acupuncture really is a non-invasive treatment approach. Dogs who receive acupuncture are usually calm and relaxed during the treatment. Some paw parents have their dogs naturally fall asleep while receiving their procedure.
One of the best benefits of acupuncture treatments is that the tools used (aka the needles) are easy to transport, allowing for at-home appointments and visits. An at-home visit may be perfect for large, immobile, or timid dogs who are difficult to travel with or get anxiety in the car. In general, the calmer the dog is in a familiar space, the better the acupuncturist can do their healing job.
