| Acupuncture
Acupuncture and animals:
Why
this 5,000-year-old form of healing
is gaining popularity
by
Cheryl Schwartz, D.V.M.
 Hiding
behind her human mother, Toby walked nervously
into my office, holding up her right front
paw. Trained in agility, the two-year-old
Sheltie had come up lame several times
over the last year. Toby had good reason
to be anxious. In the last few months,
she had visited a traditional veterinarian,
a radiology specialist and an internal
medicine specialist, and had undergone
every test known to humans and dogs alike.
Blood panels, X-rays, bone scans –
none of the tests identified the problem.
One specialist thought the problem resided
in the shoulder, another, the back. Toby
would take anti-inflammatory drugs for
the limping and the pain would disappear,
only to re-appear again two trials later.
Toby’s human companion was at her
wit’s end when she came to see me.
Using Chinese medicine diagnostics in
examining Toby, I located a painful narrow
area running through her shoulder, elbow
and wrist that corresponded to an “energy
line” which the Chinese refer to
as a meridian. Tracing this meridian,
I was able to locate tight areas of muscles
in spasm, and treated them with acupuncture
needles or acupressure massage. To balance
out the treatment, and hopefully to minimize
the recurrence of the problem, acupoints
were added to increase blood flow and
strengthen Toby’s muscles, ligaments
and tendons. After the first treatment,
Toby put her front foot down and began
using it steadily.
After the second treatment, I realized
that the problem originated when Toby
had her dew claws removed. For those of
you unfamiliar with dew claws, they are
the little thumb-like appendages on the
inner sides of a dog or cat’s front
feet. If a dog will be hunting, doing
agility, or participating in other outside
rough terrain activities, a guardian may
decide to have the dew claws removed at
a young age in an attempt to avoid catching
them on something and bleeding. Toby’s
procedure had left scar tissue build-up
in the leg on which he was limping. The
scar tissue prevented smooth blood flow
through the area, jamming the meridian,
and creating pain when minute tissue fluid
built up. The anti-inflammatories reduced
swelling and allowed for reabsorption
of tissue fluid, which re-established
blood flow. Acupuncture apparently did
the same job. Only now we knew what to
look for and how to keep it running.
Toby and her human mom were quite relieved,
especially when I recommended acupressure
points to do at home to make sure that
Toby stayed sound.
Acupuncture is a 5,000-year-old healing
art used with humans and animals alike.
There is an actual branch of acupuncture
and herbal medicine dedicated specifically
to animals, known as Traditional Veterinary
Chinese Medicine. The Chinese believe
that health is balance and the key to
balance is to keep blood and energy flowing
smoothly. They refer to energy as Qi (pronounced
“chee”). Qi can be viewed
as the animation or life force that differentiates
a corpse from a living being. When there
is blockage of the flow of Qi or Blood
through the body, pain results. Unblock
it and the pain goes away.
Acupuncture uses the body’s own
mechanisms for healing by directing and
re-establishing flow through the meridians
and organs. Meridians include aspects
of the blood and lymph vessels, as well
as nerves. Although Western science can
partly explain the success of acupuncture,
experiments are still being done today
both in China and the West to prove how
and why this form of healing works.
As in Toby’s case, understanding
the location of these meridians, or energy
lines, assisted me in diagnosing and treating
her elusive lameness.
Acupuncture is just one branch of Traditional
ChineseMedicine (TCM). Other branches
include herbs, dietary guidelines and
exercise such as Tai Chi. Chinese Medicine
encompasses a complex set of interactions
within the body and with the outside environment.
A relationship exists between each season
and an organ in your body, or a specific
hour of the day and an organ system. Additionally,
every organ is affected by an emotion,
so that anger, for example, may weaken
your liver.
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