Rachel spent another 4 days on the west coast of Scotland in October, completing the second part of study towards her certificate in Western Veterinary Acupuncture and Chronic Pain Management. Since the acupuncture course in February she has been treating lots of new patients and seeing some great results which is fantastic.
This part of the course concentrated on the treatment and understanding of pain in our patients, in particular chronic pain which can be challenging to manage. As vets we see many animals suffering from chronically painful conditions like osteoarthritis who as well as not being able to vocalise their issues are in some cases very good at hiding their pain from us. The course looked in detail at different manifestations of pain in our patients and the differences between acute and chronic pain and the importance of pain ‘wind up’ and central sensitisation. Appropriate assessment techniques for painful patients and a wide variety of treatment options were covered alongside case studies and discussion and much more.
Rachel has already been putting what she learned into practice and is very much looking forward to returning to Cove for the next block of continued professional development next year!