Veterinary Acupuncture - Acupuncture for Animals

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Welcome to Dr Lindsey Wedemeyer's Veterinary Acupuncture Lens

Acupuncture is a common form of complementary medicine for people, with accepted pain-relieving effects. Acupuncture is being used by more and more vets to treat a whole range of problems in animals. Acupuncture works, and its effects on animals show that it is not just working via a placebo effect, where a person gets better after acupuncture simply because they expect to, as they have had a treatment. No animal will be thinking 'Oh great, I'll definitely feel better now I've had some acupuncture!'.

Read on to learn more about acupuncture for animals and find out about a new ebook on acupuncture for dogs, written by a veterinarian certified in acupuncture and with many years of experience in the field of veterinary acupuncture and holistic medicine.

Doesn't Acupuncture Hurt Animals?? 

This is most people's first thought when acupuncture on animals is mentioned!

However, the majority of people who have had acupuncture themselves will tell you that in fact, it doesn't hurt at all. People report feeling warmth or tingling, but not pain.

Many animals fall asleep during acupuncture, and happily greet their veterinary acupuncturist when he/she arrives; they would not do this if acupuncture hurt!

How is Acupuncture Done on Animals? 

Acupuncture on animals is done using sterilised single-use needles. These are only 0.18-0.25mm wide. As explained above, it is rarely painful and over 95% of patients are comfortable with acupuncture. With their owner/handler to comfort and reassure, the vast majority of animals relax and tolerate acupuncture very well. Treatment in the patient's own home/yard rather than in a veterinary surgery is also very helpful in reducing fear of treatment and the vet!

Acupuncture is very safe when conducted by a qualified practitioner. In the UK, and most US states, only qualified veterinary surgeons may administer acupuncture.

A patient relaxes during his acupuncture treatment (needles circled)

What Conditions in Animals Benefit From Acupuncture? 

Acupuncture can effectively help a wide variety of problems from arthritis and skin allergies to respiratory and heart conditions. Infections, allergies, degenerative disorders and many others can be improved with a good combination of acupuncture and the best of conventional western medicine. Acupuncture is of particular use in treating chronic painful conditions (for example in older animals). Here it can be used either to supplement conventional medicine or where conventional treatment is proving inadequate to control the symptoms or pain seen.

In some cases where conventional medicine is unsuccessful, a patient may be treated successfully with acupuncture (possibly with Chinese herbs) alone. However, in many conditions the best results are achieved with a combination of acupuncture and conventional medicine. Use of acupuncture may allow a reduced dose of a conventional drug to be used (therefore reducing side effects), alleviate side effects (for example nausea produced by chemotherapy for cancer) and produce a faster improvement than conventional drugs alone.

Would You Like to Learn More About Acupuncture for Dogs? 

In my specialized acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine referral practice, I find it incredibly rewarding to successfully treat animals that conventional medicine has given up on. I have written an eBook, 'A Practical Guide to Acupuncture for Dogs' to help more animal owners learn about the benefits of acupuncture, both from scientific studies on its effectiveness and from real cases from my practice, where acupuncture helped real animals. This book is aimed at dogs owners, but look out for cat owner's and horse owner's version soon!

Click here for more information!

Order my eBook to learn more about acupuncture for dogs!

Check out my Other Lenses on Complementary Veterinary Medicine 

My Other Lenses About Acupuncture For Animals 

Equine Acupuncture - Acupuncture for Horses
More about acupuncture, specifically for horses
Canine Acupuncture - Acupuncture for Dogs
More about acupuncture, specifically for dogs
Feline Acupuncture - Acupuncture for Cats
More about acupuncture, specifically for cats
Acupuncture for Rabbits - Holistic Chinese Medicine for Rabbits
More about acupuncture, specifically for rabbits
Acupuncture for Cattle
More about acupuncture, specifically for cows

Acupuncture Books on Amazon 

If you'd like to find out more about acupuncture in general

Acupressure's Potent Points: a Guide to Self-Care for Common Ailments

Amazon Price: $14.28 (as of 11/29/2009) Buy Now

Acupressure for Emotional Healing: A Self-Care Guide for Trauma, Stress, & Common Emotional Imbalances

Amazon Price: $14.28 (as of 11/29/2009) Buy Now

Complete Idiot's Guide to Acupuncture and Acupressure

Amazon Price: $12.89 (as of 11/29/2009) Buy Now

Acupressure Techniques: A Self-Help Guide

Amazon Price: $10.36 (as of 11/29/2009) Buy Now

Acupuncture for Everyone: What It Is, Why It Works, and How It Can Help You

Amazon Price: $10.36 (as of 11/29/2009) Buy Now

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by LucyVet

Dr Lindsey Wedemeyer trained as a veterinary surgeon at Cambridge University in the UK and holds degrees in Pharmacology and Veterinary Medicine. She... (more)

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