Veterinary acupuncture works through the stimulation of specific points on the body using acupuncture needles to activate the nervous system to produce a physiological response such as decreasing pain, relaxation, or increasing local blood circulation. Veterinary acupuncture can be used to help many conditions such as arthritis, muscle strains, acute soft tissue injuries, intervertebral disk disease, allergies, asthma and much more.
Veterinary Acupuncture can help with:
- Acute soft tissue injuries
- Arthritis
- Muscle Strains
- Intervertebral disk disease
- Asthma
- Ear infections
- Deafness
- Skin infections
- Allergies
- Anal gland issues
Expectations Post Treatment
Many times improvement can be seen after a veterinary acupuncture treatment.
Sometimes it may take 2-3 days to see improvement after a veterinary acupuncture treatment.
Minor conditions may respond fairly quickly while severe, chronic or complex conditions may require more veterinary acupuncture treatments for maximum benefit.
Patients can be more tired for the first 24 hours after the veterinary acupuncture treatment.
Types of Acupuncture
The normal way most people see veterinary acupuncture being performed is using a technique called dry needling where the veterinarian inserts acupuncture needles into the specified acupuncture points and the needles are left in for a set period of treatment time.
Electroacupuncture uses very small electrical currents to stimulate acupuncture points. Normal household current is measured in volts and amps, but the current for electroacupuncture is measured in units that are 1000 times smaller (millivolts and microamps). On your skin, it feels like a slight buzz. Sometimes electroacupuncture can work better than plain acupuncture (dry-needling) when used for pain or nerve damage.
Laser veterinary acupuncture is another way where by using a therapeutic laser to stimulate the acupuncture points.
Veterinary aquapuncture is performed by injecting a small amount of usually sterile saline or B12 vitamin into acupuncture points.
Does it Hurt?
Generally, most dogs and cats do not feel any pain or discomfort in most locations on the body from many of the modalities used in veterinary acupuncture.
Some pets may feel some initial discomfort when the needle is inserted through the skin.
Once the acupuncture needles are in place, many pets will become relax and some will fall asleep during the veterinary acupuncture treatment session.
*There are always a few animals that don’t respond well to the needles. This is rare, but please don’t be alarmed if you see this. Dr. Gleason will work with them and try other options such as laser acupuncture.