Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a therapy involving thin flexible needles which are inserted into specific locations over the body to relieve pain and promote healing. Originating from traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture is widely used in equine veterinary medicine to treat a range of conditions.
Needles are placed into and manipulated within fascial planes which stimulates release of the horse’s own neurochemicals including endorphins, opioids, serotonin, dopamine and many others. These signals provide profound wellbeing and mood-altering effects as well as pain relief, muscle relaxation and functional effects. The choice of where to insert the needles is made based on assessment and palpation as well as using pre-determined points which have been studied.
We predominantly use acupuncture to support orthopaedic cases and for general maintenance of the ridden horse. It works very well to treat myofascial pain, trigger points, muscle tension, secondary compensation patterns and referred pain pathways in orthopaedic cases and is a very effective way of keeping ridden horses feeling their best. In practice we use acupuncture to support horses with arthritis, injuries, muscle tension, neck issues, sacroiliac issues, poor performance and behavioural issues. There are also case reports in the literature of medical acupuncture being used to support gastric ulceration treatment, stress, headshaking and incontinence making it a versatile therapy to be Integrated into cases.
If we are treating a specific condition, we like to do 3-4 acupuncture treatments close together initially (1-2 weeks apart). This aims to flood problem areas with the neurochemicals repeatedly increasing our chance of inciting change there, particularly helpful if a problem has been there a while. Once change has been achieved, we treat less frequently and move towards a maintenance pattern which suits everyone.
It is an extremely rewarding therapy to perform. The horses enjoy the treatment, and visible changes are seen quickly without the use of medications.
