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About Carole Parsons MRCVS
Carole graduated from Liverpool in 2003 has been a practising veterinary surgeon for over 20 years, initially in mixed/large animal work and latterly in small animal practice, but always as a general practitioner with a passion for pain management. She completed her CertAVP in Veterinary General Practice in 2014 and completed the ABVA Foundation Course in Veterinary Acupuncture in 2016. Since then her CPD has focused on chronic pain management, including electroacupuncture and physiotherapy courses and she gained her Dog Friendly Clinic accreditation from Dogs Trust in 2024 which recognises her fear-free and low stress handling of patients. She is working towards her Veterinary Pain Practitioner Certification with the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (https://ivapm.org/).
After using acupuncture in her general practice work for some years she recently left practice to pursue her passion for helping animals with chronic pain in their own homes, using acupuncture. During home visits she has seen first hand the benefits of establishing a relationship with animals and their owners, finding out what they are really struggling with and helping them with safe, evidence-based therapies and lifestyle changes.
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Carole sees acupuncture as a safe and effective treatment to be used alongside conventional medications prescribed by the animal’s primary vet, and preferably on the basis of a conventional diagnosis. She works with physiotherapists, hydrotherapists and massage therapists to offer a broad service covering as many aspects of a pet’s pain management needs as possible.
Carole only works on referral from a primary vet to ensure a continuity of care and keep communication channels open as much as possible, so that pets gain the benefit of a team approach to their care.
About acupuncture
Although acupuncture started out as a therapy within the Chinese Medicine approach some 4000 years ago, since the 1970s there have been many thousands of scientific investigations into its effects, and in the past 20 years with the growth of more sophisticated tests such as cell signalling molecule assays and functional MRI scanning we have unearthed many different mechanisms that explain how it can benefit patients suffering from chronic pain, chronic disease states and mental health disorders. Acupuncture is now available on the NHS for a range of conditions such as chronic pain, chronic tension-type headaches, migraines, prostatitis symptoms & hiccups. (1)
A recent article in the British Medical Journal stated "A recent overview of acupuncture systematic reviews found that of 77 diseases investigated, acupuncture showed a moderate or large effect with moderate or high certainty evidence in eight diseases or conditions.” (2)
If you are curious www.evidencebasedacupuncture.org is a non-profit website that collates all the available data.
If you’ve been sceptical about if or how acupuncture works, Carole offers free lunchtime CPD to veterinary teams on the scientific basis of acupuncture therapy. The side-effects of acupuncture in trained hands are rare and minimal meaning it is often suitable for animals with multiple co-morbities or who cannot tolerate conventional pain relief.
So many owners are looking for more natural/holistic ways to support their pets' health and by referring to Carole you can be sure you are meeting the client's needs while also facilitating a safe evidence-based therapy that can benefit your patients' wellbeing, quality of life and ultimately longevity.
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Carole offers a straightforward acupuncture referral service, and new for 2024 a Chronic Pain Management service, essentially a pain clinic referral service that comes to the client - for more details click here
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“Evidence on acupuncture therapies is underused in clinical practice and health policy” BMJ 2022;376 (1)