Acupuncture for Cats

Acupuncture for Cats

The Holistic Science Behind Acupuncture for Pets

By Diana Waldhuber

Acupuncture for your cat? It’s not as strange as it might sound at first, especially if you’ve had no experience with the treatment. And no, kitty will not look like it is part of a Dr. Frankenstein experiment.

The ancient Chinese treatment arose from the belief we all have energy cycles that move through our bodies and keep us healthy. When one of the energy points becomes blocked, the person, or animal, would become ill or diseased. Unblocking the energy point through the act of inserting needles at these pressure points is the way to free the energy and thus heal.

Interestingly, the ancient Chinese also believed this technique would work on cats. Our furry feline friends have similar energy points on their bodies to people, so a skilled veterinary acupuncturist (TCM) is able to treat your cat properly.

If you’ve been the kind of big scaredy cat (no pun intended) who’s always kept far away from people wielding long thin needles, you might want to take a deep breath and think again.

How Can Acupuncture Help My Cat?

Acupuncture is safe and painless for both you and your cat (getting your eyebrows waxed hurts way more!). The needles, when inserted properly (the reason you go to a real acupuncturist), don’t send any pain signals to the brain. In fact, most kitties will relax during the procedure, and lots take catnaps.

While this is not an overnight remedy, you will see changes in your pet. Kitty may be more alert, social, relaxed, and moving about like its old self in as little as one or two sessions. For chronic conditions, your kitty may have to have sessions for the rest of its life to keep the pain and discomfort down.

Depending on the ailment, you may want to use the therapy in conjunction with traditional medical treatment, as a backup, or simply as an alternative. It can be used to help cats with almost any disorder, including chronic pain, arthritis, asthma, allergies, and even kidney and liver problems. Acupuncture has also been found to ease the side effects of cancer treatments, too.

Treatments can last anywhere from less than a minute to thirty minutes. And of course, you are allowed to be there with your pet throughout the whole procedure. There are a few different methods a veterinary acupuncturist may use. The traditional use of needles that are rotated by hand is the one most people know, but some therapists may use lasers with injections of sterile fluids, or even use short bursts of an electrical current to stimulate the area. The kind of acupuncture your kitty receives will depend on the therapist.

Now that you know a little more about acupuncture, it might be something to discuss with your veterinarian at the next visit.

Image: pathwithpaws / via Flickr

Original article and pictures take www.petmd.com site

Acupuncture For Acne

Acupuncture For Acne

Finding yourself with a bathroom full of failed cleansers, spot treatments, and moisturizers that all claimed to clear your face of adult acne? According to over 30 years of research, it’s time to come over to the alternative side of medicine. When it comes to acne, acupuncture is where it’s at.

A systematic review of 43 trials in English and Chinese language studies found acupoint stimulation—a blanket term which includes acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, acupoint injection, and acupoint catgut embedding treatment—to be an effective, side effect-free treatment for acne. Some of the individual therapies, like cupping, were even found to be significantly better than pharmaceutical medications at curing (yes, curing) patients of their breakouts, says the research published in Medical Acupuncture.

Acupuncture is the insertion of hair-thin sterile needles into the skin and is a typically painless way to signal the brain to make changes within the body. And while it may be news to you, acupuncture as a form of medicine has been getting results for over 2000 years, says Mary Sabo, L.Ac., acupuncturist, Chinese herbalist, and assistant clinic director at The YinOva Center in New York City. Undergoing acupuncture therapy for acne often includes dietary changes and taking Chinese herbs and supplements along with weekly acupuncture appointments—far more involved than taking a pill or applying a cream.

But Sabo says the benefits of acupuncture extend beyond a patient’s pimples, and usually long after treatment has discontinued. “Regular acne creams are just suppressing the manifestation of underlying imbalance in the body,” along with causing unwanted side effects like irritation, dry skin, and even increased risk of birth defects, says Sabo. The needles are applied to points that send signals to strengthen (as in digestion or immunity), reduce (inflammation, known as heat) and move stagnant energy. “Treatments with acupuncture work to make the whole body healthier, and in the process resolve the acne from the inside out—which is why many of my patients also see improvement in their digestion, sleep, stress levels, and energy.”

The findings also showed acupuncture was even more effective at increasing the number of cured patients when combined with herbal medicine. In Sabo’s mind, it makes perfect sense: “I think of acupuncture as communicating with the body, while herbal medicine provides the building blocks to help the body make those changes,” she says. “Combining the two makes healing happen faster.”

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Original article and pictures take www.prevention.com site

Acupuncture Doubles Fertility Rate

Acupuncture Doubles Fertility Rate

Acupuncture doubles the fertility rate of women with infertility due to hyperprolactinemia. The condition involves excess production of the hormone prolactin.

Indications include infertility, breast milk secretion, amenorrhea, and low sex drive. The researchers discovered that treatment with the drug bromocriptine resulted in a 20% pregnancy rate. When acupuncture was added to the treatment regimen, the fertility rate increased to 43.3%.

Acupuncture demonstrated several other benefits. Acupuncture shortened the period of time needed to lower levels of prolactin. Acupuncture also helped to regulate estrogen, progestin, and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels. In addition, acupuncture reduced the side effects caused by bromocriptine intake.

Bromocriptine is used for the treatment of hyperprolactinemia, acromegaly, and Parkinson’s disease. It is an ergot alkaloid that blocks prolactin release from the pituitary gland. Side effects include dizziness, nausea, confusion, hallucinations, and uncontrolled bodily movements. The researchers discovered that acupuncture increases the positive patient outcomes associated with bromocriptine intake while mitigating its adverse effects.

Researchers from the Hunan Mawangdui Hospital compared bromocriptine intake with an integrated approach to care involving acupuncture combined with bromocriptine intake. A total of sixty patients were randomized into the drug group and the drug combined with acupuncture group. Bromocriptine was administered at 1.25 mg, twice per day after meals. After the eighth day, the dosage was increased to 2.5 mg.

Acupuncture was administered starting on the eighth day after menstruation. The primary acupoints were:

CV6, Qihai

CV4, Guanyuan

ST36, Zusanli

SP6, Sanyinjiao

LV3, Taichong

KD3, Taixi

LV5, Ligou

Needle retention time was 30 minutes. Acupuncture was administered once per day and ten treatments comprised one course of care. For each menstrual cycle, one course of acupuncture care was administered.

The drug only group had 19 patients reporting adverse effects to the medication intake. The acupuncture combined with drug group had 7 patients reporting adverse effects to the medication. The researchers concluded that acupuncture reduces the instances of adverse effects due to bromocriptine intake.

The pregnancy rate increase was significant. Women taking bromocriptine had a 20% pregnancy rate. Women receiving the integrative model of care using both bromocriptine and acupuncture had a 43.3% pregnancy rate. The researchers concluded that acupuncture enhances the efficacy of bromocriptine therapy.

In related research, acupuncture increases live birth rates for women receiving IVF, in vitro fertilization. The research team consisted of members from the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (Portland), Northwest Center for Reproductive Sciences (Kirkland, Washington), and the University of Washington (Seattle). The researchers discovered that live birth rates increase significantly for women using donor egg IVF when acupuncture is added to the treatment regimen.

Original article and pictures take www.corespirit.com site