ALTERNATIVE THERAPY

ACUPUNCTURE
Ancient Art or Voodoo?

Written by Gerry Wessner

Acupuncture had it's beginnings in China during the New Stone Age, somewhere between 4,000 and 10,000 years ago. I cannot fully comprehend how such a primitive culture could discover such a simple means of healing with no 21st century sophisticated electronic equipment. Now notice I said "simple", but beware-the practice of Acupuncture is not easy. The ancients discovered this system of healing and anesthesia centuries ago and it's present day use had been supplemented and refined by migration of this modality through other countries and cultures, such as Korea and Japan.

Early needles were made of stone the New Stone Age was 40 to 100 centuries ago), and were still used after the advent of metallurgy in the Bronze age, even though bronze, gold, silver, and iron needles were recovered in ancient tombs dating to the first century.

Acupuncture may be described simply as equalizing the energy(Qi) in the meridians or acupuncture points of the body. The evolution has taken thousands of years, and at first the Ancients found that needling certain points in different parts of the body affected a remission of signs and eventually a cure, but later learned ancient Chinese Acupuncturists found that the points were connected through a system of channels which are now called meridians. Today it is known that there are twelve paired meridians that cover the body, and two single meridians that course up the front and back of the body. Each meridian is connected to an internal organ that it is named after, and with disease in this certain organ, the points on the meridian lose their energy balance, and then treatment is possible by either stimulating (adding to) , or sedating (removing). As you can see, acupuncture is both simple and complex; simple in it's theory of balancing energy of the meridians that may be a current as fine as a flow of electrons, but coupled with the actual placement of the needles requires much study and practice so that the appropriate points are treated properly. In addition to this, the ancients found that each organ or meridian has a period during the twenty four hour time of one day that the energy is maximal in that meridian and this fact may be used in diagnosis and sometimes treatment.

Acupuncture may be described as a discipline and there are basic tenets. They still apply today, centuries after the first cure was affected by thrusting the bone or stick or whatever the practitioner used to treat that first patient. Early acupuncturists also used herbs and other forms of therapy when tending to their patients. Modern acupuncturists use modern methods of either human or Veterinary medicine when treating their patients. The benefits of acupuncture with other modalities may be seen with faster or more lasting results.

For example, in treating abscesses, I use acupuncture and hot compresses. The acupuncture usually consists of five to seven needles , and the number of treatments vary with the individual case, but may be anywhere from one to five. Hot compresses are used twice daily until the abscess is cured. I have been impressed with this therapy, because it eliminates incisions, saves time and the owner's money.

Another example of acupuncture for modern times is a method that I have used on several occasions to treat gas, spasmodic, or violent colic without analgesics such as Dipyrone, Bute, or Banamine. I prefer to use Vitamin B12 on five acupuncture sites. The horse relaxes within 5-10 minutes and rarely has another occurrence (unless the colic is caused by a foreign body or needs surgery to rearrange a twisted intestine). This colic treatment can be invaluable when a horse is entered in a race where the presence of analgesics are tested for in urine or blood.

Acupuncture has many uses. Among them the diagnosis and treatment of sore muscles in the equine back, neck, and other soft tissue that can effect the performance of any sport horse. Acupuncture is an age old medical practice that may have found a spot in today's equine sports medicine.

Gerald Wessner is a licensed vet with a practice limited to acupuncture in Florida, Maryland, and Delaware. He enjoys speaking to clubs and associations. He may be reached at 813- 681-2607 or pager: 1-800-641-6206