Acupuncture therapy and animal care.

Acupuncture is a popular complementary therapeutic choice in human medicine. More and more owners now also seek acupuncture therapy for their animals. The work of numerous scientific investigators over the past 20 to 30 years has proved the clinical value of acupuncture for treatment of animal disorders. Increasingly more veterinarians wish to integrate acupuncture therapy into their routine practice.

Numerous of scientific studies have been performed to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture for treatment of diseases in different species of animals. A number of these published research lack rigorous study design or analytical methods. Therefore, these studies do not usually meet the criteria of rigorous scientific scrutiny. In spite of these limitations, many of the studies offer useful data for the use of animal acupuncture in routine practice.

Despite the complex philosophical basis of acupuncture, veterinarians recognize that its actual application for treating animal diseases are relatively easy to grasp. By incorporating acupuncture therapy into their clinical practice, they can frequently obtain successful results. Some ”terminal” cases also revive after acupuncture treatment. This increases the position of acupuncture in the veterinarians’ practice. Furthermore, the confidence of animal owners and the public in acupuncture therapy is boosted.

It is likely that acupuncture therapy will become even more acceptable in the new millennium. As acupuncture offers ideal non-pharmacological care to sick animals, the practice has implications for animal welfare and for the production of drug-free human food of animal origin.

For more information about acupuncture, please visit Britannia Acupuncture Clinic.