Acupuncture, a combination of the Latin words, “acus” (needle) and “pungare” (to pierce), probably has its origins in Northern India or Tibet six or seven thousand years ago.  We know for certain, however, that the Chinese were the first to effectively organize the study and the practice of acupuncture.  “Stone needles” are mentioned as early as 500 B.C.  The first organized approaches to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) appear during at the beginning of the Han Dynasty (207 B.C.- 221 A.D.)

Dialogue between the Yellow Emperor and his physician, referred to in the “Huang Di Nei Jing” (Classic Textbook of Physical Medicine of the Yellow Emperor) conceptualizes the early development of the major theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

For the record, the Chinese term for acupuncture is “zhenjiu”, which actually means needle (zhen) and moxibustion (jiu).  Moxibustion, which some of my clients have seen me use, is the burning of an herb, Artemesia vulgaris, and using the heat generated to stimulate selected acupuncture points.

Let’s begin this discussion of veterinary acupuncture by comparing the way two different systems of medicine view how acupuncture works.

Traditional Chinese Medicine attempts to understand (and then harmonize) the interaction of the various systems in the body as they relate to themselves, and to understand the interaction of these systems with the external environment as well.  D.H. Jagger in Schoen’s “Veterinary Acupuncture: Ancient Art to Modern Medicine”, states it beautifully: 

“The key in traditional Chinese medicine is the idea of balance or harmony, not only within the body as in homeostasis, including neuroendocrine functioning, the emotional state and hereditary influences, but also in consideration of the balance between the body and its external environment.  The latter would include nutritional factors, temperature and humidity, air quality, social factors, microorganisms in the environment, and seasonal influences, among others.  Therefore, more emphasis is placed on the conception of health as a relative state dependent on the environment. Health is viewed as existing in a continual state of flux because the internal and external environments are forever changing.” 

The accurate placement of acupuncture needles attempts to bring the energy flowing through meridians (channels) into balance.

Western Medicine, after a long period of non-acceptance, has finally begun to recognize many of the benefits of acupuncture.  In an attempt to understand how acupuncture works, western science has examined the effects of acupuncture through a neurophysiologic basis.  We will examine three popular and well researched theories:

*  The Neural Gate (or Gate) Theory; simply put, this postulates that one of the analgesic effects of acupuncture involves the spinal cord.  When stimulated by needle placement in an acupuncture point, an impulse travels down a peripheral nerve toward the spinal cord to “close a gate” in the spinal cord, blocking or reducing the transmission of pain impulses to the brain.

* Autonomic Theories; needle stimulation of acupuncture points may be transmitted to the internal organs by special neurons located in the spinal cord.  It seems that the parasympathetic or the sympathetic components of the visceral nerves can be selectively stimulated thereby regulating the function of the various internal organs.

*  Humeral Theories; experiments suggest that acupuncture causes the release of substances that are neutralized by narcotic antagonistic drugs. These are drugs that reverse the effect of narcotics.  These substances have been demonstrated to be endorphins and enkephalins, compounds which mimic the effects of morphine.

There are literally dozens of other theories that attempt to explain how acupuncture works, at least from a western perspective.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

I started studying veterinary acupuncture in 1989 after attending a lecture by Dr. Allen Schoen.  It was about this time that I became interested in improving my own health and well being through Traditional Chinese Medicine.  Over the last 11 years while receiving regular acupuncture treatments myself, I have used acupuncture to treat a variety of different animals, including horses, cattle, cats, dogs, rabbits, goats, and pigs.  The majority of the time, believe it or not, the animals are usually quite accepting of the treatment.  Certainly there is the occasional animal that is restless or irritated at the placement of the needles, and rarely I will find an animal that I absolutely cannot perform acupuncture on due to their objection to being needled.  But at the other end of the spectrum, for every one of these animals that is a tough acupuncture patient, I have one that absolutely enjoys their treatment.  I used to perform acupuncture on J.R., a Warmblood gelding that we never even took out of the trailer.  I would crawl over, under and all around this big guy, placing needles over his back, down his legs and even in his belly.  He never moved!  In fact he remained quite relaxed through the whole procedure.  I will also never forget Randy, a 171 pound black Newfoundland dog who would be fast asleep by his second or third needle.  Talk about relaxed, we would have to wake him up to turn him over onto his other side to finish his treatment.  He would be asleep again in seconds, even while I was placing needles in him!

I find that acupuncture and moxibustion work well by themselves, depending on the condition being treated; and when used to complement western veterinary medicine, can be a very powerful healing tool. 

Examples of problems that seem to respond especially well to traditional Chinese medicine would be musculoskeletal diseases such as arthritis, traumatic injuries like sprains, strains and pulls, back soreness and neck and shoulder injuries.

Dermatologic disorders have shown nice responses to acupuncture.  I have had good results with allergic skin disease in both dogs and horses.  Good success has been seen with lick granulomas in dogs, a very frustrating syndrome where the dog will start licking an area (usually on the foreleg) until a non-healing ulcer forms.

Human acupuncture has a high success rate treating asthma, and we see similar results in treating some cases of heaves (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) in horses and feline asthma.

I have even had some recent experience working with behavioral problems in dogs and horses that has been quite rewarding.

Post operatively, acupuncture is very useful for treating pain, depressing and to speed healing of damaged tissues.

As in human acupuncture, veterinary acupuncture can be used to ease the stress associated with the change of seasons, and to help prepare an athlete for an event, two examples of the prophylactic use of this centuries old discipline.

There is no question that the beneficial effects of acupuncture are starting to really be appreciated in modern western society, and that the powerful synergy of the two forms of medicine (eastern and western) has a lot to offer all of us and our companion and working animals.