Ever Hear of Acupuncture for Dogs?

Ron Miller 01/04/2013

Have you given consideration to acupuncture for dogs treatments if you loyal pooch is suffering from illness or other medical conditions? While a somewhat little known way to treat many of the same conditions humans develop, using acupuncture techniques on your dog does work, and without any of the normal side effects associated with prescribed medications. Plus you will cut down on all those expensive visits to the vet.

Acupuncture for dogs

Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years in Oriental cultures with great success. Small needles are inserted into the body at strategic locations to heal everything from arthritis to back pain. Now acupuncture for dogs is catching on with holistic vets as well as traditional veterinarians who recognize the effectiveness of this form of treating many common dog ailments. Veterinarian acupuncture is being used to treat pain, increase the function of internal organs, and increase the ability of your dog’s immune system to ward off illness. Through the use of sterilized needles inserted along what is known as the meridian pathway the needles are used in various locations to treat many different conditions. Occasionally a small electrical charge is used in conjunction with the needles to achieve the desired healing.

Acupuncture for dogs begins with a complete physical examination by your vet. If conditions warrant the need for acupuncture your vet will schedule your dog with a certified dog acupuncturist. This individual will also do a thorough examination and decide on the best procedures for healing your dog. Most of these procedures average 10 to 12 minutes, but can be as short as 1 minute or up to 30 minutes. Dogs do not feel any pain and results for simple issues are felt immediately by the dog and one visit is normally all that is called for. More complex medical conditions and illnesses often require weekly visits until the problem is healed. As your dog responds to weekly visits the acupuncture practitioner will gradually increase the time between visits as the conditions being treated show signs of responding until they are gone completely.

The ailments acupuncture for dogs can heal include skin disorders, internal organ disorders which otherwise may require complicated and possible fatal surgery, muscle and skeletal abnormalities, painful joints due to arthritis and loss of bone strength, neurological illness, female dogs reproductive issues as well as male dogs with problems siring litters of pups. Acupuncture has also been shown to increase the endurance and agility in all breeds of dogs.

Some other things that were improved by canine acupuncture, according to an article on Acupuncture.com:

Favorable acupuncture results have been reported in the treatment of many other canine conditions, including the following: cardiovascular disorders (9), chronic respiratory conditions (10), dermatological disorders (11), gastrointestinal disorders (12), gynecological disorders (13), immune-mediated disorders (14), male reproductive disorders (15), musculoskeletal disorders (16), neurological disorders (17), reproductive disorders (18), thoracolumbar and cervical disc disease (19, 20).