Acupuncture Question

[Guest hannahmom]

Hi,

 

As some of you may know, Hannah is having back issues which are leading to limping. We have had x-rays and a gazillion vet visits; treatments have been muscle relaxants and Tramadol - all work some, but not well.

Our local vet has become certified in acupuncture, so, not wanting Hannah to be on drugs forever if not necessary, we took her in Thursday, and she's scheduled to go back in on Wed.

 

My questions is around what should I expect to see and when and how long will it last. My vet ( who is fantastic) says it really is on a case by case basis.

So, I'm looking for case studies

 

Has your hound had acupuncture?

For what?

How long before you started to see an improvement ?

How long do you go between treatments ?

 

Hannah cried during the treatment so if I don't see results, I don't want to continue, but I don't want to give up too early on what could be a fantastic option and allow her to be more comfortable.

 

Any input welcome.

Edited August 2, 2009 by hannahmom

[robinw]

I had a dog who had acupuncture following a stroke. i'd say that she recovered to about 90% of her pre-stroke self, but to be honest, i don't know how much was due to the treatment and how much was just normal recovery. having said that, she was around 11 years old at the time and lived to be 16 .

 

i noticed some improvement following each treatment but it was more of a cumulative thing. she had extrensive acupuncture during the first month or so following her stroke, then we moved away so the treatments stopped.

 

good luck to Hannah and i hope she feels better

 

ETA: i've had acupuncture after i broke my arm and messed up my rotator cuff last year. they seemed to be effective and i generally felt the results almost immediately. they didn't last for that long, though.

Edited August 2, 2009 by robinw

[greyhndz]

Dandi has acupuncture regularly for intervertebral disc disease. It took about 3 visits, as I recall, before I started to see results, and the results were pretty impressive. My acupuncture vet initially treated him weekly, then bi-weekly, then every 3 weeks, but when we got to monthly Dandi started to fall apart. I've found that bi-weekly works perfectly for him and keeps him quite comfortable.

 

When Dandi first started (and also on bad days when I can see he's "owie"), his back was very sensitive, which you could see clearly when she examined his back and palpated before inserting the needles. At times, he's had enough spasm that he'll pop the needles right out. That's the only time he's ever shown signs of pain with needle insertion. 90% of the time, he's needled and will lie down until the timer goes off. Then he goes home, zones out for the rest of the day, and is back to his usual grumpy self.

Dandi also trots right up the steps of the holistic vet's clinic and looks happy when he goes in, which says a lot!

 

His acupuncture vet put him on Resinall-E, a Chinese medicine for inflammation, as well as Robaxin (muscle relaxant).

 

Hang in there - I think you'll see a huge difference in Hannah within just a couple of treatments!

Jordan

[Guest wmlcml6]

Your vet is right about it being a case by case basis. We've had acupuncture give immediate results and only needed one follow up treatment, and we've had dogs that needed more treatments. Some injuries it helps manage pain, but doesn't completely fix the problem. Just depends on what is wrong.

 

I hope it works great for your Hannah.

 

P.S. I've never had a dog cry from the treatment, so maybe it's a mental thing with her not liking it. I did get the bejeezus scared out of me once when I took a 3 month old puppy in who hurt his neck. 5 minutes after the needles were placed, his body went limp and I thought he died. The vet said sometimes it relaxes them to the point they fall asleep. Phew! Thanks for the warning, doc.

 

 

 

 

[Guest meakah]

Hi Tena, sorry to hear your girlie is having some back issues. I hope things start to improve with the acupuncture.

I have had experience with acupuncture with myself AND Koda.

As for Koda....I chose to treat her with acupuncture after she had FCE (Fibrocartilaginous Embolism) a couple of years ago and had lost the function of her left front and rear leg. I would carry her in (because she could not walk)...15 mins of acupuncture....and she would literally almost walk out on her own. Each treatment showed an incredible amount of improvement within 1 hour of the treatment and then she would deteriorate a bit after that hour window. Even with the deterioration after that hour, she was still showing improvements from her state before the appointment. It seemed like she was in somewhat of a euphoria state in the first 30-60 mins following the appointments because she would be so happy and literally walking the odd few steps like normal (before knuckling and falling over). She had these treatments every 3 days for about 2 weeks and then once a week for a couple of more weeks. She was fully recovered (miraculously!) within 6 weeks or so. She did not cry during the appointments but she is rather stoic....I know it must have hurt her at times. I know it hurt me every appointment and I was sometimes in tears due to the pain. But I was having a different type of acupuncture....a trigger type where long needles were used and dug into the muscle to make them 'fire'....in my neck of all places. But, I had tremendous improvements as well so I kept going to the appointments. For me, I didn't notice any improvements until after the 3rd appointment or so.

 

With all of that being said...I would give it 3 appointments. If you don't notice ANY improvements after 3 then maybe I would cease treatment.

 

I hope Hannah starts to show signs of improvement.

[Guest DylanGospel]

It's been quite some time since we used a combination of chiropractic and accupuncture on our Rottie. He had become quite lame in his back two legs, and we never really were able to tell what the underlying cause was- most likely it was arthritis.

 

Our vet started a course of chiropractic and then ended it with a session of accupuncture. The results weren't immediate, but there was a gradual improvement, if my memory serves me correctly.

 

We also began and continued administering deramax and then previcox for the remainder of his life. He walked normally and was pain free until the end two years later. I imagine that the pain killers ultimately ended his life, but he had two additional wonderful and pain free years with us.

 

Give the sessions a good chance. I doubt there will be immediate improvement, but if you trust your vet, he will be the one to give you the best advice. I don't remember there being any pain during either the chiropractic or the accupuncture sessions. We had several chiropractic, but only one accupuncture treatment.

 

Good luck.

[RobinM]

Teddy and Beau have both had acupunture. Teddy had it for about a year. Results were about after the 4th session.

 

He has some disk issues.

 

Beau has some hip issues and it helped him to after about 4 sessions as well. They both got worse before they got better, but you can't go wrong with it.

[dbullwinkel]

It took Missy about 4 treatments to see results.

[Remolacha]

Sugar started having serious back end problems when she was 11. Basically, the vertebrae in her spine were deteriorating. Because of her age and heart problems, treatment options were limited. She started with acupuncture once a week for a month, then every two weeks, then once a month, the every three months. I started seeing some results right away but the big improvement started after about a month, so, four treatments. She went from barely able to stumble a few steps to walking normally! She did take Tramadol as needed for pain, she had arthritis and there were flare ups in her spine, but I have to say the acupuncture saved her life. She could not have continued the way she was. She was also having some incontinence problems, and the Dr. gave her a few needles in her "pee points" improved that problem about 90%.

 

I was so impressed with her results I started doing acupuncture for my arthritis.

 

She showed some, discomfort I guess, from the needles the first time, but after that, she laid down and napped through the treatments. Not everyone will be as lucky as she was, but I think in most cases there is some improvement. Good luck!

[IndyandHollyluv]

Dear Hannah's mom -- Indy, 11-1/2, had his first acupuncture treatment in Nov08. (In Feb08, MRI revealed mild to moderate LS and mild disk protrusion.) I have taken him every five weeks for a treatment (although the last time it was eight weeks). I also took Holly, 10, for her first treatment last month. Holly is fairly compliant; Indy is up, down, and sometimes restless during the session -- but that's just him. No real drama out of either. A couple of little "what the #$!%" yelps out of Indy, but no big deal.

 

Oh, during the first session the vet just inserted needles only. During the second session, he applied low electrical stimulation.

 

And I finally found an animal chiropractor!!! Indy just had his second adjustment; Holly had her first on Friday. Both had several disks out. Chiropractor also recommended stretching exercises for Indy's bad toe. In fact, all the toes. Stretch the ligaments.

 

Frankly, depending on what's at issue, I think chiropractic is every bit as important as acupuncture. If a disk is encroaching on a nerve and causing numbness, pain, or the death of a nerve -- it seems manipulating the dog back into alignment and relieving the pressure on the nerve should be considered before more drastic measures like surgery. Acupuncture, meds, etc., are all fabulous but won't move the disk. When I took Indy to see a neurologist, all he could offer were meds or surgery. The conventional medical approach.

 

Just my . I am extremely pleased with both modalities and will probably alternate treatments (per my budget!).

 

Hope you find the right combination for Hannah.

[Guest vahoundlover]

We saw immediate results in Boss, seriously...I came home with a different dog. He went weekly for 3 wks I think, then biweekly a couple of times and we tapered off from there to about every 5 wks. He never acted as if it hurt, tho he did have some points that were not his favorite. Boss had a bulged disc and lost use of his backend. Without our regular vet and our holistic one I honestly believe Boss wouldn't have been with us for 2 more years.

 

We tried the electro acupuncture on Boss twice, his reaction the first time was good and he had a lot of spring to his step but the 2nd time it made him worse (we were warned of this). We knew going in that she had some concerns on how he would handle it but the regular needling wasn't doing what it used to do so we agreed to try it. We were watching Boss fade before our eyes and this was honestly a last ditch effort.

 

I hope Hannah gets some benefits from it, it truly made a huge difference in Boss.

[Burpdog]

Every dog is different. If you don't see results in 5 treatments, time for a different approach.