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Acupuncture The history of the practice
Acupuncture The history of the practice
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Acupuncture is a realm of veterinary medicine that has been around since 900 B.C., originating from China (Robinson, 2007, p. 259). Acupuncture is a way to relieve pain by inserting very small, thin needles into acupoints to promote healing and well-being through neurological energy. The use of acupuncture is a type of treatment that many do not understand or have much information about. It can be used for animals and humans to relieve pain and help aid healing of diseases or infections. Acupuncture is beneficial to animals, especially equine. Performance horses need to perform at top condition and acupuncture is a useful way of relieving pain or stress on the body. It can possibly be the future of healing small pains or even aiding larger …show more content…
Many researchers have found that acupuncture effectively relieves pain and illness with the equine species. Hunley and Huisheng conducted research to find out the opinions and current use of acupuncture, and they discovered that many diseases are treated such as musculoskeletal problems, neoplasia, general pains, and behavioral issues (p. 57, 2011), which another researcher addresses when using acupuncture in equine reproduction. Scholfield uses acupuncture to help improve the behavioral issues of stallions to help the breeding process (Schofield, 2008). The author not only uses acupuncture to improve the behaviors of stallions, but improves many of the physiological factors of the mare. Acupuncture improves the reproductive hormones, including the gonadotrophin releasing hormone (Schofield, 2011). It also increases the fertility rates. After treatment, 81 percent of the mares had a successful foaling (Schofield, 2011). Agreeingly another researcher used acupuncture to heal sarcoids, similarly to the use of acupuncture for reproduction. Sarcoid are wart-like lesions that form in the subcutaneous and muscular tissues (Thoresen, p. 29, 2011). The use of the acupuncture reduced the size of 14 out of the 18 equine patients in the experiment that Thoresen conducted (Thoresen, p. 30, 2011). The sarcoids are extremely painful and the acupuncture is an effective way to relieve the animals of pain, …show more content…
Acupuncture can solve some illnesses, create better productions of hormones, and improve behavior of equine. This can all be done through the most common form of acupuncture which is dry needling. It is very simple yet very effective. Although acupuncture has been proven to be a useful practice in veterinary medicine. More research should be conducted to implement it into veterinary colleges for future students to use. Acupuncture is a very useful form of healing that could be very beneficial to those in the equine industry with deeper studies and
Hippotherapy, a specialized form of equine therapy, “is a physical, occupational or speech and language therapy treatment strategy that utilizes equine movement. Hippotherapy literally means ‘treatment with the help of the horse’ from the Greek word, "hippos" meaning horse” (“Hippotherapy.”). Equine therapy is an all-encompassing type of therapy that includes riding horses, learning about the horse as a creature, the physical activity involved in horseback riding, and much more. Hippotherapy also requires a licensed, specially-trained therapist to teach and oversee lessons because of the hands-on nature of this method while therapeutic riding only requires a professional horseback-riding instructor, typically with some background in physical or occupational therapy Hippotherapy riders usually have more severe deficits and, therefore, hippotherapy is a little bit more intense than physical therapy. Both hippotherapy and therapeutic riding can utilize the unique movement of a horse to “assist in meeting therapy goals.” The horse’s gait mimics that of a human, and for that reason, horses can aid in the treatment of patients with physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy and the rehabilitation of injured people such as
All things found in the universe are thought of as a balance of the two opposite but complementary forces yin and yang. Organs in our body can be predominantly yin or yang but the body still manages to maintain the overall balance because of the total sum of yin and yang in the body. Traditional Chinese medicine states that diseases are caused by an imbalance of yin and yang. When trying to restore the balance and the person’s health, practitioners look for the nature of the imbalance and use acupuncture as a method to correct the imbalance.“However, despite more than 3,0000 studies into acupuncture since the 1970s, there is no evidence that any force qi ( yin and yang) exists or that it flows along invisible energy lines.” ( “Why acupuncture is giving sceptists the needle”, David Derbyshire)Therefore the whole system acupuncture is based on can’t be reliable.
When owning a horse, you run into the problem of your horse getting injured. Getting the call from your barn manager or a friend saying that your horse is lame isn’t a call any horse owner wants to get, but is undoubtedly a call that everyone gets. The first thing that runs through their head is what happened? One of the scenarios that will enter a horse owner’s head will be a tendon, ligament, or joint injury. Many owners work very hard to prevent such injuries by feeding joint supplements, but owners can’t prevent the unexpected. Some of the major treatments out in the equine industry are even common in human tendon injuries, such as tendon splitting, stem cell therapy, and platelet rich plasma therapy. There are also several medicinal injections that have come available to veterinarians such as: Tildren, Adquan, and Legend. Every horse owner should have some knowledge of the above treatments, in order to provide the best therapy and healing for their horse.
...this alternative medicine in reinforcing the legitimacy of their work is that there are even discrepancies between them on exactly how to achieve the desired results. “One of the many methodological problems with auricular acupuncture is that there are so many maps of the ear and little agreement exists regarding point location, lacking definite anatomic stud on the ear skin and its somatotopic correspondences” (Gori 16). In order for this alternative method of treatment to become more mainstream and accepted as legitimate, more conclusive evidence and more consistent results across multiple studies, and more consistent application of the acupuncture itself must be achieved. Until that point, auricular acupuncture will continue to help persons who have experienced its benefits, but it will not receive the attention that a more proven treatment would by the masses.
There are three claims for why acupuncture is effective: reflexes, hormones, and energy transfer. When the needle is inserted into the skin, the nerves send signals that travel up the spinal cord, into the brain, and block the pain center in the brain. This prevents pain and other signals from entering and exiting the brain and severity of the symptoms is suppressed. This allows the body to heal itself while the individual is unaware of any pain or other distress (http://www.acupuncture.com/Acup/Works.htm).
Martin BB, Jr., Klide AM. (1987). Use of acupuncture for the treatment of chronic back pain in horses: stimulation of acupuncture points with saline solution injections. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 190(9),1177-80.
"Animal-Assisted Therapy." Animal Assisted Therapy, Exploring the Therapeutic Link between Animals and Humans. American Humane Association, 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. .
Acupuncture originated in China and it has been practice for more than 2000 years now. This modality is considered the main treatment within the traditional Chinese medicine. Its main concept is the conviction that the body possesses hidden channels identified as meridians. These channels allows for the flow of energy which is considered a vital life force through all the body. Acupuncture modality believes that when this energy becomes obstructed or imbalanced, sickness and symptoms can build up. It is only when this energy becomes unblocked by stimulating focal points in the meridians that health can be achieved again (Cherry & Jacob, 2010).
In the field of therapy, there are numerous of therapy available out there for different type of individuals and situations as well. There is one type of therapy that usually contains people and animal, it is animal-assisted therapy is a therapeutic approach that brings animals and individuals with physical and/or emotional needs together to perform the therapy. Animal-assisted therapy tend to be focused on individuals either children or elderly for them to be able to connect with the animal thus feeling comfortable talking with the therapist. Pet therapy works for all ages, whether sick or not (Lanchnit, 2011). Although, this paper, most of the focus is on animal-assisted therapy towards children using dogs.
Holistic dog treatment needs to be understood as for what it represents. A holistic veterinarian seeks to promote the animals' natural healing capabilities from within as well as through harnessing the energies from the body. They use the least toxic, least invasive and most nurturing path to healing. Holistic medicine is defined as any system that diagnoses and treats a disease in the context of the whole patient.
For many humans, a pet provides unconditional love and affection. Others feel an overwhelming calming, happy feeling when they are around animals. According to The American Veterinary Medical Association, studies have shown that due to these positive emotions that are stirred, the presence of and interaction with animals can lower heart rates and blood pressure. Animals that meet specific training criteria can become an integral part of a treatment process for a variety of psychological and physiological problems.
Acupuncture doesn’t allow people to get ahead of themselves like Victor did; the way of thinking brought about is that of a natural sense. The techniques of the alternative medicine allow people to remember how magnificent and sacred the human body is and realize that it cannot be created through lab work or perfected through medicine. With Western medicine, patients can take up to four or five medications before finding one that suits their needs and most can have many life threatening side effects. With acupuncture, it is one procedure and one attempt to heal a patient with NO major side effects. Acupuncture is a unique ancient art that is backed by thousands of years of Chinese thought and research and has been proven affective for many people and their illnesses.
The benefits of acupuncture can vary once compared to pain medication. This treatment doesn’t involve any side effects unlike when taking pain killer. When going through acupuncture the process it can be quite unusual compared to other type of medicine because of the instruments used for this treatment such as needles put on the place of the pain. These points are found in areas with high density; this information was all discovered by the ancient Chinese. Pain medication has so much disadvantages to it.
So far, there aren’t that many studies showing if acupuncture actually works. Most studies done on patients with chronic lower back pain, neck pain and knee pain show that it might help ease some pain. There are other studies done as well that show
Chiropractic work, much like human chiropractic work, involves manipulating the body of the animal and using a variety of hand movements in order to put certain body parts, muscles, and bones back into their correct locations. Acupuncture is the same for humans and animal alike. Both human and animal forms are used to relieve pain, reduce inflammation, paralysis, help with asthma, diarrhea, certain reproductive problems, arthritis, and nonsurgical colic. Colic refers to a condition of severe abdominal discomfort characterized by pawing, rolling, attempting to bite where the pain is, and sometimes the inability to defecate. It is a disorder more commonly found in horses. If left untreated, it could lead to serious complications, and in some cases, death. Cold laser is another form of alternative medicine that uses a beam of light to stimulate damaged cells to produce more energy. The overall cellular function is increased, allowing for rapid absorption of nutrients, elimination of wastes, and reproduction of new cells (Cold Laser Therapy). It can help to increase mobility and ease pain in the treated areas. These alternative forms of medicine have been used by vets and certified personnel for a variety of reasons. According to an equine veterinarian, Mark Wooten at Nolensville Veterinary Hospital, “while the West is unsurpassed with treating