Acupuncture as a Therapeutic Tool in Health Disorders in Animals: a Review

This review is about acupuncture defining elements as one of the safest methods that can be used also in veterinary therapy. In the past 20 years many veterinarians in Europe started to practice in their offices only in animal acupuncture. Acupuncture is a complex system of diagnosis, treatment and diseases prevention, based on body’s reflex action, due to the skin’s stimulation with needles. Treatment involves precise points (acupoints) influencing on skin’s surface in conjunction with certain internal organs and body functions. The aim is to strengthen and stimulate body’s own homeostatic mechanisms. Knowing the acupoints and at what level can act in good sense, results can lead to eg.: pain inhibition, increased cardiac output, cough reflex suppression, bone healing and others causing therapeutic effects in a great variety of animal diseases. The indications of acupuncture are as: primary therapy, adjunctive therapy support, or back-up therapy, as alternative one, when allopathic treatments are insufficient. Acupuncture can be used simultaneously with traditional therapies being compatible with non-traditional and holistic veterinary approaches (eg. homeopathy, chiropractic). Aplicability of acupuncture is presented from Asian and Western perspective, are presented acupuncture’s current theories (eg electrical, humoral, neurophysiological), directions, main indications, limitations vs. indications, advantages, disadvantages etc.