What is Acupuncture?

Information For pet owners

The Traditional Chinese Medicine Approach

Acupuncture is the technique of using very fine needles that pierce the skin at specific points in order to treat or prevent disease. It is perhaps one of the oldest forms of medicine in the world, and along with herbal medicine probably one of the oldest forms of veterinary medicine in the world. Although pets have only recently been treated with acupuncture, in China, horses, cows and pigs have been treated for well over 3000 years.

Veterinary Acupuncture is part of a whole system of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM), which involves diet, Chinese herbs and other techniques. TCVM is used to diagnose, prevent and treat disease, and depends on the principle that the body always tries to balance and regulate itself. TCVM therefore acts to support the body to overcome any imbalances that cause disease. Acupuncture helps stimulate energy flow, the life force or Qi, through the body and also reduces pain and inflammation to help balance bodily functioning. When a specific point on the surface of the body is treated, it actually treats a channel or meridian that connects to organs inside the body. You can imagine signposts on a long road that link several towns. Then the signpost (the acupuncture point), connects the roads (the meridian) and the towns (the organs). Everything is connected.

The Western Approach

Acupuncture points on the body are quite different from the skin surrounding them. On the microscopic level there is an increase in the nerve endings, tiny blood and lymph vessels, and specialised cells associated with inflammation. These points also have a measurable lowered electrical resistance, which changes with time of day, illness, body temperature and pressure.

Nobody has been able to find the meridians or channels that link the body, however acupuncture on the outside of the body can affect internal organs. For example there is a point called Stomach 36, located just below the stifle (knee) and slightly on the outside of the leg, in the dog and cat. This point relieves nausea and vomiting, and has been shown in research to increase the number of circulating white blood cells in the body, thereby improving immunity.

Acupuncture has also been shown to stimulate the release of numerous neurochemicals including endorphins and other pain relieving, anti-inflammatory hormones into the bloodstream. From an energy perspective it is likely (though not proven) that acupuncture also works by changing the electrical resistance of the acupuncture points, facilitating the flow of electromagnetic energy through the body. TCM views disease as a stagnation or blockage of the vital life force or Qi, and that acupuncture serves to regulate the flow of Qi and remove blockages from the body.