In February Rachel spent 4 days on the west coast of Scotland at an intensive course on veterinary acupuncture. This fantastic course provided training on using acupuncture safety in veterinary practice for a wide, but selected, range of conditions and was a chance to meet and discuss cases with other interested vets from different career paths.
Pain is one of the most common indications for acupuncture in particular chronic pain like arthritis which affects a large number of our patients. It can also be used in certain medical and dermatological conditions as it can stimulate the body’s nervous system to produce natural pain relief and reset the body’s normal functioning.
Acupuncture can often be successfully combined with other conventional treatments where it can help to reduce the need for other medications that may have undesirable side effects. It can also be used as a sole therapy. The majority of animals accept acupuncture well and many enjoy their sessions as it can have a lovely relaxing effect!