Services
Initial assessment / treatment
Follow-up
4-session course
Recover programme
What is acupuncture and how does it work?
Acupuncture has evolved from the ancient art of placing needles into special locations on the body to alleviate pain, improve recovery rates and increase resistance to disease. It has been practised by the Chinese and other Eastern cultures for thousands of years.
Traditional Chinese Medicine approach
The philosophy and aim of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is to restore equilibrium between physical, emotional and spiritual factors – thus restoring and maintaining health. Treatment involves using needles in specific acupuncture points (sometimes in combination with herbal therapy) to address imbalances in Yin and Yang as well as improving the flow of Qi and blood.
Western Scientific Acupuncture
Scientific research into acupuncture has made enormous progress over the past 40 years and now explains much of acupuncture’s actions which had previously only been understood in the ancient concepts of health described in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
This has brought about the greater recognition and acceptance of acupuncture within the scientific community. The non-profit website www.evidencebasedacupuncture.org collates all the published scientific data we have available.
By stimulating receptors under the skin, and nerve endings within connective tissues and muscles, acupuncture needles produce blood vessel dilation, release of endorphins (the body’s own natural morphine) and affect nerve signal conduction both local to the needle and within the spinal cord and brain. We have known about the effects on pain relief and the endogenous opioid responses to acupuncture for many decades, but more recent sophisticated studies have revealed effects on the hypothalamus, immune system and autonomic nervous system – all systems designed to maintain a normal physiological balance in the body. This has opened the understanding of its use in a wider range of internal medical disease conditions.
When can acupuncture be useful?
Acupuncture is also often used to treat musculoskeletal conditions (of the bones and muscles) and pain conditions, including:
- neck pain
- osteoarthritis (joint pain)
- muscular or ligament injuries
- dental pain
- postoperative pain
It can also be useful in spinal pain ( e.g. from a disc protrusion or collapse) and chronic medical conditions when conventional medicines have failed or are inadequate to control the patient’s symptoms. These conditions are often where the body’s own regulatory systems (known as homeostatic mechanisms) are working poorly, perhaps due to stress, or other ongoing illness.
Acupuncture treatment should always follow an accurate diagnosis of the problem and a full appraisal of all treatment options. In many cases acupuncture is best used in conjunction with conventional medicine however, in some situations, it can be used as a sole treatment. Adding acupuncture to a treatment plan can help to reduce the patient’s requirements for medications which may have undesirable side effects.
Most importantly, acupuncture is extremely safe when practised correctly and is well accepted by the majority of animals.
What to expect
If this is my first visit to your home, I will first want to take some time to get to know you and your pet and so I set the expectation of 45 minutes to an hour. I will always have sought permission from your regular vet to treat your animal and so will have information about their medical history. However it is important to me to understand why you have sought out acupuncture, answer any concerns you may have, find out what your pet is like with strangers and how I can make you both feel at ease during treatment sessions. This is before I even place a hand on your animal!
I may also ask you to fill in an owner questionnaire about the effects your animal’s pain has on their lifestyle (a pain-scoring tool known as the Canine Brief Pain Inventory or the Feline Musculoskeletal Pain Index). These are well-validated questionnaires which can help us focus on what your pet is struggling with the most and can give us a useful baseline to compare back to at the end of a course of treatment.
After spending some time asking these questions I will then spend time trying to gain your pet’s trust – if you have some favourite treats handy for me to offer this will help :). Depending on the condition and your pet’s temperament I will perform a basic physical examination such as your vet might do for a booster vaccination, along with a more thorough examination of the musculoskeletal or nervous system if appropriate.
Lastly, maybe only for the last ten minutes of the session, I will try to place a few needles in points on your pet that are unlikely to cause any pain or reaction, so that we can all assess how they tolerate it. I have rarely seen a pet bat an eyelid during this initial needling session, especially if we have a few treats to hand!
How long will sessions last and how many does my pet need?
As outlined above I expect the introductory session to take up to an hour, but following sessions should be 20-30 minutes depending on your pet’s temperament and condition we are treating.
It should be clear that I am only offering an acupuncture/pain management service, and so advice and treatment for other conditions should be sought from your regular vet – after all they will know your pet better than me!
We know that individual response rates to acupuncture vary and perhaps 20% of animals may not receive any benefit from it. However, although some animals can seem to show an immediate improvement, we often need 4-6 sessions to know whether your animal is benefiting, particularly with a condition where the symptoms have been present for many months or even years. This is the reason why I encourage all clients to sign up for the discounted course of 4 weekly sessions before deciding whether to continue or not.
Following these initial sessions we will chat together about whether your pet is making any improvements, and although I will offer my opinion the decision about whether to continue treatment for further sessions lies entirely with you. These can be booked flexibly and we may decide that fortnightly or even monthly sessions would be appropriate. Occasionally, especially with acute (short-lived) injuries for which a full recovery is seen, further treatment may not be deemed necessary at all.
FAQs
An acupuncture practitioner (or acupuncturist) uses fine sterile needles inserted into the body for a therapeutic effect. This may be for pain relief, reduction of inflammation or restoration of nerve function, to name a few benefits.
Veterinary acupuncture (i.e. acupuncture on animals) is defined as an act of veterinary surgery and therefore can only legally be carried out by a fully qualified and UK-registered veterinary surgeon (MRCVS) in this country, or by a registered veterinary nurse (RVN) under the direct supervision of a vet.
Most animals tolerate acupuncture really well - see my video of Tilly as an example. Usually with a few treats as a distraction they don’t notice the needles going in, or may just have a mild reaction as if they have felt a flea bite. If your pet hates the injections at the veterinary surgery, don’t assume they won’t tolerate acupuncture - the needles are superfine and silicon-coated, and we always go slowly at your pet’s pace. Being less anxious at home often helps them to tolerate much more than they could cope with at the vets!
If an animal has areas of severe pain I will not be placing needles in or around that area; there are other points I can choose to help with general pain relief. Being an accredited Dog Friendly vet and having worked in gold standard Cat Friendly Clinics, I am well educated in assessing how comfortable your pet is with my handling and will back off and give them more time if they need it.
Due to its effects on endorphin release, improvement in blood flow and alteration of pain signalling pathways within nerves both local to the needles and within the brain and spinal cord, acupuncture is an excellent treatment choice for conditions which result in chronic pain or nerve dysfunction. This includes:
- Osteoarthritis
- Spinal cord disease such as intervertebral disc disease (IVDD), lumbosacral disease or degenerative myelopathies
- Nerve injury due to trauma such as road accidents, which can lead to muscle atrophy or bladder function
- Chronic intestinal or bladder diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC)
My aim is to make acupuncture for pets as accessible as possible so I will always try to be affordable. An initial treatment session costs £68 (plus travel fee if appropriate) and ongoing sessions cost £62. Most animals will need ongoing maintenance if we are treating a chronic condition. If your pet responds well we often move from weekly to fortnightly or even monthly maintenance sessions.
Yes! Most insurance cover will have a separate ‘pot’ of money for ‘complementary therapies’ and acupuncture often falls into this category. However as a recognised veterinary treatment some companies will treat it the same as any other treatment and it will fall under your main cover - check the terms of your own individual policy for details. I am registered with all the major insurance providers.
Ready to book or have more questions? Get in touch
- 07941 778928
- hello@pettherapyacupuncture.co.uk
- Tollerton, Nottingham, East Midlands
- Contact page