Equine Acupuncture

What is Acupuncture?

Many people have heard of acupuncture for humans, and may have used it themselves.  Equine acupuncture was the very first veterinary medicine, and has been in use for about 2,000 years.  In the past 30 years, acupuncture has become more popular in North America and has been heavily researched.  There are now significant amounts of science behind acupuncture, explaining why and how acupuncture works.

Acupuncture involves inserting needles at specific points on the body (acupoints), where there are increased numbers of nerve endings, blood vessels and lymphatics to help alleviate pain and target specific conditions.  Inserting needles at the specified points stimulates these nerve endings, sending a message to the brain to interrupt pain or send different hormones and chemicals to the body. 

The Benefits of Acupuncture

We have used acupuncture on a wide variety of cases and have had excellent success with quite a range of types of cases, such as:

  • Sore backs and necks

  • Navicular issues leading to foot pain

  • Laminitis (acute and chronic)

  • Tendon/ligament injuries

  • Arthritis

  • Extending the period between joint injections/reducing the number of injections needed

  • Muscle atrophy/loss (Sweeny etc)

  • Gastric ulcers

  • Heaves/allergic lung conditions

  • Anhidrosis or non-sweating

  • Reproductive issues such as inability to conceive or maintain pregnancy

In most conditions, three treatments are indicated.  Each treatment usually takes about an hour, and may involve electroacupuncture (gentle stimulation with an electrical current), plain needles or aqua-acupuncture (injecting into acupoints).  Acupuncture will only be recommended if we feel it is appropriate for the case.

Our Acupuncture Veterinarians