Acupuncture – how will it help my horse?
With many different therapies, treatments, supplements and exercises available to help keep your horse performing at its best, it can be difficult to know what to choose; so we thought we’d try to help horse owners find their way through the maze! In this article, we will discuss equine acupuncture due to its increasing popularity and the noticeable improvements clients have reported aſter treatments. Continue reading to find out the history of acupuncture and if it is something that could benefit your horse’s health.
Where does acupuncture originate from?
Acupuncture is a form of holistic treatment that was first referenced in the Chinese Huang-ti Nei-ching - a series of books thought to date back to the 2nd century BC. The practice of acupuncture has been used on humans and animals for thousands of years to reduce pain or as a pre-exercise therapy. Over the centuries acupuncture was used in Chinese medicine up until the 1800s, when the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) was suppressed as Western- trained physicians introduced their medicine and practices to the country. Consequently, early in the 20th century the Chinese government attempted to ban the practice of traditional Chinese medicine in favour of Western medicine but a strong opposition led them to continue using the practice up until the modern day. Any acupuncturist will tell you that the technique has evolved greatly over the years into the practice we see today to incorporate both Chinese and Western beliefs, yet its roots and effects can be traced back through history.
What is acupuncture?
Acupuncture is the practice of releasing the body’s own healing chemicals through the insertion of very fine, sterile needles that are placed at specific points to stimulate the body’s nerve endings. By stimulating the body through acupuncture, pain-relieving chemicals that help the body’s healing process (such as endorphins, melatonin and serotonin) are released.
There are two acupuncture ‘disciplines’: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western Scientific Approach (WSA)
l Vets who practice TCM believe that to achieve homeostasis (a state of balance) you must balance the positive and negative forces in the body. This can be achieved through an in-depth assessment to determine the source of the imbalance, which then allows the vet to address and help to return the body to a state of health. The belief is that the needles are placed in specific points on the body to influence the flow of qi (pronounced “chi”), the energy that runs along the pathways connecting the acupuncture points; these pathways are known as meridians and these are believed to also connect to the internal organs of the body.
l WSA practitioners insert the needles directly into the sensitive regions identified during the physical assessment in order to relieve tension and muscle spasm through the mechanisms outlined above.
Acupuncture can also be used as a precursor to heavy exercise or alongside a training regime and oſten competition horses will have acupuncture treatments included into their schedule.
Common conditions that may improve with acupuncture
Please note that this technique can only be performed by practicing veterinary surgeons who are registered to do so. Our own acupuncturist, Mark Vale BVetMed MRCVS, is a member of the Association of British Veterinary Acupuncturists. He regularly visits horses out on the road to perform acupuncture and these are oſten horses in competition training right through to those recovering from previous injury. When used correctly acupuncture can be used to potentially help the following clinical signs:
l Muscle spasms l Cold backed horses (resenting the saddle, dipping on mounting and bucking when ridden)
l Back pain 18 February/March 2020 For the latest news visit
www.centralhorsenews.co.uk
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