Acupuncture Treatment

Pennard Vet Group will now be offering acupuncture treatments.

Phillip Elliott, one of our veterinary surgeons, is a member of the Association of British Veterinary Acupuncturists (ABVA) and is fully qualified to be able to perform this procedure.

What is Acupuncture?

The word acupuncture comes from the Latin acus, meaning needle, and punctura, meaning to puncture through the skin.
The technique is most commonly recognised as an integral part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and involves piercing the skin with fine metal needles in order to relieve symptoms, cure disease and promote health.
The Chinese philosophy involves placing needles in certain specific points along meridians (channels in the body) to influence the flow of chi (life-force/energy)

Recently, scientific investigation of acupuncture has revealed a sound neurophysiological basis to this approach and has shown that stimulation of certain nerves or muscles (acupuncture points) causes blockage of pain. It also stimulates the release of pain-relieving chemicals in the brain (endorphins), which produce more generalised pain relief.
Acupuncture may be particularly effective in the treatment of chronic disease either to complement orthodox treatments or when orthodox medicine fails.

In the UK, acupuncture for animals is classified as an act of veterinary surgery and can only be legally performed by a veterinary surgeon.

Most insurance companies recognise the benefits of acupuncture and will cover the cost of treatment, although it does pay to check with your individual insurer prior to starting treatment.

What can be treated with Acupuncture?

All animals can potentially be treated with acupuncture although we mainly treat dogs and cats. Rabbits have been treated and often respond very well.

Acupuncture is mainly used as a method of relief of musculoskeletal pain such as occurs with arthritis but can also help treat other problems such as:
- Chronic gastrointestinal disease, such as chronic diarrhoea or constipation,
- Chronic skin disease like Atopy (allergic skin disease) and non-healing wounds,
- Urinary/faecal incontinence
- Stress related disorders in cats.

What side-effects are there?

Very few, if any.
Occasionally a small amount of bleeding may occur but this usually stops with application of direct pressure for a few seconds.


What response should I expect?

The response to acupuncture varies greatly from excellent results after the first treatment to no response at all after numerous treatments.

It is generally recommended that at least 4 treatments be performed even if no apparent response is seen initially, as some animals' response can be delayed.
Treatments are usually given once weekly, for 2 to 4 weeks and then are continued as required- some animals monthly, others less frequently.

How much does it cost?

The first treatment involves an initial assessment of the animal and problem being treated, with a full clinical examination performed, paying particular attention to muscles and joints.
We will discuss likely outcomes and answer any questions you may have.
We will then place needles in the appropriate points and these will generally be left in place for 10-15 minutes but this will vary.
The cost for this initial treatment is £61.50 + VAT

Acupuncture treatment at Pennards

It is normal to start with 4 sessions approximately a week apart. It is accepted that, while not all animals respond to acupuncture, most do, but may have a delayed response that doesn't occur until after the 3rd or 4th treatment. If there is no effect after the 4th treatment then it is usually decided to cease treatment.

If there is an improvement then after the 4 session we monitor the duration of effect and repeat as necessary. In most cases the more sessions of acupuncture the animal has the longer the duration of effect that occurs.

'Doses' of acupuncture

All animals are different, obviously, and subsequently respond differently to acupuncture. As acupuncture involves stimulation of nerves it is possible to 'over-dose', and actually makes the animal slightly worse in the short term. To prevent this possibility we start treatment using a very low 'dose' i.e. 4-5 needles placed with no stimulation (twisting or tapping) for 5-10 minutes only.
If there is no response at this level then we increase it with more needles, more stimulation and place them for longer.

Case Study

A 14 year old Golden retriever named 'Del' was presented in September 2008 with severe lameness to the right hind leg. The stifle (knee joint) was severely swollen and so painful that it was initially thought to be fractured. An x-ray subsequently showed no fracture but severe arthritis.

Del had been taking Rimadyl (a painkiller) for the past 2 ½ years for arthritis but she didn't seem to be responding as well to this recently.

After discussion with the owner we decided to try acupuncture to see if this helped Del.
We selected various points along the back and on the right leg and inserted the needles. Del was very tolerant of the needles and in fact after a few minutes lay down and almost went to sleep!!

The needles were removed after 10 minutes and Del went home.
The owner phoned the next day to report that Del had responded extremely well. She seemed much happier in herself, was using the leg and where-as before it took a while for her to get up from a lying position she was now able to as quick as a flash. To quote the owner 'it was magic!'

This effect seemed to last for almost a week.
She returned and we repeated the acupuncture and again the response was excellent.
This continued for another 2 treatments, 1 week apart, and then we extended to interval to fortnightly and currently is getting acupuncture every 3 weeks.

The owner is amazed at the response and where-as at first was very sceptical about acupuncture is now a firm believer and has started her other dog on acupuncture for its spinal arthritis as well.