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swallows, with subsequent enlargement of the esophagus). So, he put some regular hypo- dermic needles into those points because he didn’t have any acupuncture needles. He didn’t think it would work, but he was ready to try anything because this pony was going to die. Twenty minutes later, the choke cleared. He told us he doesn’t know if it finally resolved and was going to clear up anyway, but he had done everything within his power to clear that choke for more than 24 hours, so he was sold on the validity of acupuncture - and took the acupuncture course,” says Nelson.
“My first experience with acupuncture was when I fractured the radius cap in my elbow. It was terribly painful for about 8 weeks. I was on pain medication, but it wasn’t stopping the pain and I couldn’t work because it hurt so much. A friend suggested I try acupuncture. I didn’t want to pay somebody to stick needles in me. My friend told me that he thought a person’s mind is like a parachute; it works better when it’s open. He said, ‘Here’s the deal. I’ll make the appointment. You go, and if it doesn’t work I’ll pay for it.’ So I went, and it was an hour and a half appointment. About 20 minutes into it, the pain in my elbow was gone and never came back,” she says.
“This was pain that wouldn’t respond to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or muscle relaxants. Before the acupuncturist got done with me, the pain was completely gone. That’s when I decided to learn more about it,” says Nelson.
Origins Of Acupuncture
This method of treating people and animals began more than 2,000 years ago, as evidenced by ancient pictographs and carvings in stone. We can’t tell if the procedure was done with actual needles or some other structure.
Acupuncture works, but how and why it works is not understood. The so-called ancient ideas about disease resulting from blockages
of invisible energy within the body as it moves along unseen meridians are being questioned by medical scholars. Some researchers in Oriental medicine have shown that the idea of energy-meridians were not part of the ancient Chinese philosophy of acupuncture, but arose from mistranslation of Chinese terminology into French during the 1930’s by Georges Soulie de Morant.
Morant tried to make acupuncture palatable to the physicians of his day,
and harnessed the then-popular notion
of human energy and equated “Chi” with energy, though he admitted that his choice was “for lack of a better word”. He thus promoted the idea that Chinese medicine did not require an understanding of physiol- ogy and anatomy, even though historical evidence reveals that ancient Chinese physi- cians knew that acupuncture was physi- ologically based, affecting blood, breath, and nerve functions.
The first IVAS (International Veterinary Acupuncture Society) course was conducted in 1973, after famous acupuncturist Marvin Cain went to China to learn techniques and started teaching acupuncture in the U.S. Several veterinarians attended that first course. These courses have changed and evolved substantially since the first one due to advances in figur-
ing the process out. Veterinarians attending these courses continue to share and pool their experiences.
We also have better translations now of the ancient Chinese documents. These factors have helped change acupuncture and its acceptance over the past 50 years, with the evolution and better organization of the material, better translations and understanding of the original concepts, and the collaboration of American English-speaking western-medically-trained veterinarians.
HOw Acupuncture wOrks
Acupuncture points and acupressure
points are the same. These are sites on the body we can stimulate or press to produce
a physiological response. There are nerves, blood vessels, etc. beneath the dots and lines of ancient charts showing acupuncture points and channels. That knowledge, coupled
with a background in anatomy and physiol- ogy, takes the guesswork and mystery out of acupuncture. The body reacts in predictable ways when acupuncture is used to relieve pain, relax muscles, improve digestion and dissipate stress. Acupuncture affects the nervous system by changing levels of neurotransmitters and how the nerves respond to pain. It also relaxes muscles and improves circulation.
specific uses fOr Acupuncture in HOrses
Nelson uses acupuncture on some horses regularly. “I see these horses once a month and work on anything that needs to be adjusted with chiropractics or do acupuncture once
a month on a maintenance program. Some horses have issues with arthritis that I treat as needed. But, we are also a full service western practice and do joint injections and use bute or whatever medication might be useful - whatever will help that individual horse. Acupuncture is just another tool in my box. I use it in emergencies with colics because it has worked on colic cases in which I was sure the horse was going to die,” she says.
“There is a lot of discussion right now about use of acupuncture in helping empty the equine uterus that is full of fluid and won’t respond
to oxytocin and other common treatment protocols,” she says. There are many uses for acupuncture that help horses.
Bruce Connally, a veterinarian with an equine sports medicine practice in Berthoud, Colorado, has been using acupuncture since 1999. He uses it for treating pain and as a diag- nostic aid when trying to locate the cause of a problem. “There are trigger points all over the horse’s body. Some are along the back and hips and these are fairly easy to figure out. There is also a trigger point in the side of the neck that affects the stifle and that’s not quite so easy to understand, but I have seen it work. There is a
pain relief
Conally says using dry needles - picking and pecking at the tight spot - must provide some kind of release, probably by send-
ing a signal up the nerve to the brain. “Endorphins are released in the brain, and that’s where the pain relief comes from.
Then, the horse feels good. Some will actually stand there and doze while I’m doing acupuncture,” he explains. There seems to be a cumulative effect of acupuncture, as well. Repeated treatments often result in less pain, returning less often.
Acupuncture began over 2,000 years ago, as evidenced by ancient stone carvings.
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equine health