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Equine Acupunture

6th February, 2010 - Posted by health news - No Comments

Acupuncture is something that most of us our familiar with. However many people are perhaps ignorant of the fact that acupuncture is also practiced on animals. Equine acupuncture is a method where this particular treatment is used to cure horses.

There appears to be some confusion over the origins of this unique method. Some people consider China to be the birthplace of equine acupuncture while others consider it to be Tibet. Note that this treatment was one that came about 3000 – 4000 years before organized western medicine came into use.

Equine acupuncture gained global popularity during this time since the horse was a significant animal and was used for war and for transportation. However there are still those who think negatively of acupuncture considering it to be unproductive and somewhat primitive. This is indeed a misunderstanding. Acupuncture is now widely accepted in cases like arthritis and there have been many cases where the use of equine acupuncture has given positive results for horses suffering from respiratory, behavioral and neurological conditions.

Some people might be astonished to know that equine acupuncture is extensively used in the case of performance horses and veterinary acupuncturists have accompanied several Olympic teams during games. As well as treating clinical conditions the method is also used to bring horses to the optimal physical state before competitions. The fact that it’s not necessary to use drugs in equine acupuncture is a huge advantage since horses that are given drugs face the risk of being disqualified from competitions.

Some people have are of the notion that acupuncture is painful. This is not so in most cases. People might get a numb or a ‘warm’ kind of feeling at most Even in the case of horses in equine acupuncture since the needles used are very thin, being only about 0.18 – 0.25 millimeters in width it’s unlikely that there is going to be any pain.

If you do intend to have equine acupuncture done on a horse that you might own make sure that the veterinarian you hire is qualified for the job. Certification on this regard is given by 2 bodies and you might be succeed in finding online the veterinarian working nearest your house who is qualified at equine acupuncture.

It must be kept in mind however that equine acupuncture courses is a treatment that is likely to be somewhat expensive. The treatment is however both unique and effective though it may not be conventional.