Veterinary Acupuncture, an introduction

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Veterinary Acupuncture, an introduction
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Presentation Outline

• History of acupuncture
• Traditional Chinese Medicine theories
• Acupuncture points
• Mechanisms of action
• Where can you look for more info?

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Eastern and Western Medicine

• Western Medicine
• New techniques
• Historical understanding?
• Eastern Medicine
• Theories 1000s of years old
• Historical understanding necessary

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How long ago?

• Some texts of acupuncture-- 200 BCE
• Confucianism and Taoist views
• Physiology and nature are tied

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Health

• --A state of harmony existing between internal
  and external environments
• Balance

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BALANCE

• Central core of the Yin/Yang theory
• Neither can exist in isolation

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Natural World

• Yang
• Fire
• Active
• Fast
• Day
• Sun
• Summer
• Bright

• Yin
• Water
• Passive
• Slow
• Night
• Moon
• Winter
• Dark

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Physiology

• Yin Organs-- Liver
• Spleen/Pancreas
• Kidney
• Heart
• Lungs
• Pericardium
• Yang Organs-- Stomach
• Lg/Sm Intestine
• Gall Bladder
• Urinary Bladder
• Triple Heater

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Classification of Energy

• Remember Physics?
• Potential Energy
• Kinetic Energy
• Qi

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When the balance is lost

• Illness an imbalance in the homeostatic
  mechanisms of the body
• Disorders of Qi
• Deficient Qi
• Stagnant Qi
• Rebellious Qi

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Meridian Concept

• Pathways
• 1 meridian associated with each organ
• Total 14 used mainly in veterinary acupuncture
  today

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The 5 Phases
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The 8 Principles
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Diagnosis

• History
• Physical Exam
• all senses
• Five Phases
• Eight Principles

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How is it performed?

• Thin, flexible, sterile needles
• Pierce and stimulation specific acupuncture
  points (acupoints)
• Stimulation causes a
  complex cascade of
  body responses

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Acupoints

• Over 1,000 have been located and mapped
• Found mostly in depressions located along
  cleavages between muscles, tendons, and bones
• Foci of increased electrical
  conductivity (lower skin resistance)

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Lower Skin Resistance (LRS)

• Caused by
• Local increase in capillary
• permeability
• A sympathetic reflex
• ???
• Observed at many, but not all, acupoints
• In dogs, 79 correlation
• Zones or narrow bands of LRS resembling meridians
  extending along the long axis of limbs

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Structural Basis

• High density of nerve fibers and vascular
  networks in the subcutaneous tissue at or near
  acupoints
• Specific structures
• Free nerve endings
• Muscle spindles
• Golgi tendon organs

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Free Nerve Endings

• Free nerve endings tend to converge in bundles
  with vascular structures beneath acupoints
• Perforate superficial
• fascia
• Enter skin

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Form unique cylindrical structures surrounded by
a sheath of loose connective tissue
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Trigger Points (Travell and Rinzler, 1952)

• Skin location that, when stimulated, produces
  pain in an adjacent or distant location
• Suggested that this response
• was caused by blood vessels
• or nerves lying close to
• skins surface

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Trigger Points, continued

• Applied dry needling
• technique to trigger
• points to produce pain
• relief
• 71 correlation
• between trigger points
• and acupoints

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Examples of Locations

• Superficial nerves or plexuses
• Midline points where superficial nerves meet on
  the dorsal or ventral midline
• Motor points (where nerves enter target
  muscle)
• Muscle-tendon junctions (where Golgi tendon
  organs are abundant)
• Sites where nerves exit bony foramina
  (supraorbital, infraorbital)

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Mechanisms of Action

• Neural Opiate Theory
• Humoral Mechanism Theory
• Local Mechanism Theory
• Bioelectric Theory

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Neural Opiate Theory

• Acupuncture causes release of endogenous opioids
  into the CNS
• Enkephalins
• ß Endorphins
• Etc.
• These opioids alter the integration and
  perception of pain

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Humoral Mechanism Theory

• Acupuncture causes release of a variety of
  humoral factors from the brain and other organs
• Cortisol
• Serotonin
• Prolactin
• Luteinizing
• hormone
• Etc.

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Local Mechanism Theory

• Needle stimulation is associated w/ a local
  defense reaction
• Muscle contraction around needle
• Coagulation cascade
• Activation of complement
• cascade
• Vasodilation and increased
• vascular permeability
• Mast cells degranulate

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Bioelectric Theory

• Meridians are conduits for sodium ions
• Acupuncture induces the flow of sodium ions to
  deficient areas
• Reducing cell lysis
• Reducing pain

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Applications

• Pain management
• Oncology
• Immune mediated dz
• Dermatologic dz
• Neurologic dz
• Renal dz
• Cardiovascular dz
• Respiratory dz

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• It matters not whether medicine is old or new,
  so long as it brings about a cure.
• It matters not whether theories are Eastern or
  Western, so long as they prove to be true
• Dr. Jen-Hsou Lin
• DVM, PhD

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Where to get additional information

• International Veterinary Acupuncture Society
• www.ivas.org/main.cfm
• American Association of Veterinary Acupuncture
• www.aava.org
• American Holistic Veterinary Medicine Association
• www.ahvma.org/
• www.altvetmed.com/associat.html
• Veterinary Acupuncture Ancient Art to Modern
  
• Medicine, by Alan M. Schoen
• Four Paws, Five Directions, by Cheryl Schwartz
• The Web That Has No Weaver, by T. Kaptchuk

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References

• Schoen, A.M.Veterinary Acupuncture Ancient Art
  to Modern Medicine, Mosby, Inc., St. Louis, MO,
  2001.
• Schwartz, C. Four Paws Five Directions A Guide
  to Chinese Medicine for Cats and Dogs, Celestial
  Arts, Berkley, CA, 1996.
• Mitchell, D. Introduction to Veterinary
  Acupuncture, Proceedings of the 2000 Annual
  Conference of the American Holistic Veterinary
  Medical Associations, 2000.
• Dr. Debbie Wilson
• Dr. Mary Lindamood
• Dr. Susan Drapek

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