Since I’ve passed my CVA examinations and have been practicing it, I’ve been getting this question a lot — what exactly is acupuncture and what does it do? If you want a short explanation, jump to the “Main purpose” heading. Otherwise, let me explain it from the top.

The first question we have to tackle is…

What is TCVM?

Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM) is a big umbrella covering many traditional therapies and techniques such as acupuncture, tui-na, food therapy, and herbal medicine. It uses pattern diagnosis involving physical examination and getting thorough patient history — sounds similar to WVM, right? But here comes the difference: in TCVM, we rely a lot more on pulse and tongue to determine the diagnosis. And the questions we ask to get the patient history involve a lot more on temperature preferences and subtle changes in behavior/environment.

For more on my explanation of the differences between TCVM and WVM, check out my blog “Taking up a TCVM Veterinary Acupuncture Certification.”

History of Acupuncture

Acupuncture can be traced back to the Neolithic period, about 8000 years ago, when stone blades called bian-shi were used. Over time, different materials were introduced:

• Stone needles: 8,000 years ago
• Bamboo needles
• Bone needles: 4,000 years ago (Shang Dynasty)
• Metal needles: 3,000 years ago
• Gold/silver needles: 3,000 years ago

Veterinary acupuncture has its roots in ancient China as well:

• Xia-Shang Dynasty (2100–1046 B.C.): Jia-gu-wen — inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells, marking some of the earliest Chinese written records.
• Tang Dynasty (618–907 A.D.): “Si Mu An Ji Ji” written by Li Shi.
• Yuan Dynasty (1608 A.D.): “Yuan Heng Liao Ma Ji” (Yuan-Heng’s Therapeutic Treatise of Horses) by Yu Ben Yuan and Yu Ben Heng.
• Spread to Japan and Korea in 484–507 A.D.
• Introduced to France (1582–1600), Britain (1676), and North America (1800s).

The Science Behind It

There is a close correlation between acupuncture meridians and peripheral nerve pathways. For example, meridians follow peripheral nerves:

• Lung (LU) meridian = musculocutaneous nerve
• Pericardium (PC) meridian = median nerve

More and more research is being conducted on TCVM, with increasing numbers of articles published proving its effectiveness for pain relief, immune modulation, internal medicine conditions, and many others. For further reading and access to research papers, check out the American Journal of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (AJTCVM).

Main Purpose — Complementary and Balance

If I were to explain it in one word: balance.

In TCVM, any form of illness is a state of imbalance. Each individual has different combinations of essential substances and thus requires different balances of each substance. Every individual is unique. Even their states are subject to change — nothing is permanently the same — when there is life, there is flow.

This is when the beauty of TCVM comes in. TCVM is not an exclusive medicine — it works beautifully with conventional medicine. For example, radiographs and ultrasounds can help confirm a TCVM diagnosis. Conventional surgical intervention can be complemented with TCVM to enhance the patient’s smooth recovery and reduce the side effects of certain drugs.

What Are Acupoints and Why Do We Use Them?

They are holes/depressions on the surface of the body corresponding to high density of:

• Free nerve endings
• Small arterioles
• Lymphatic vessels
• Mast cells

Thus, they help in:

Pain Relief and Lameness

• Releases:
  • Endogenous opioid
  • ß-endorphin (only electroacupuncture)
  • Serotonin
  • Norepinephrine

Mobilizing mesenchymal stem cells

• Enhances arterialization of blood vessels

Immune Regulation

• Vaccine given at GV-14

Others

• Anti-fever
• Anti-inflammatory effect
• GI regulation
• Blood pressure regulation
• Hormonal regulation

What Can It Treat?

TCVM and acupuncture are best for prevention, chronic conditions, maintaining quality of life, reducing conventional treatments’ side effects, and sometimes even acute conditions. It is best when used complementarily with WVM diagnosis and even treatments. Nonetheless, it can be used alone or with the help of herbals, food therapy, and even tui-na.

Some examples are:

• Chronic/acute pain
• Musculoskeletal issues, lameness
• Gastrointestinal disorders
• Behavioural issues
• Reproductive disorders
• Skin issues
• Neurological disorders
• Respiratory disorders
• Heart conditions
• Liver conditions
• Urinary issues
• Endocrine disorders

What Can It Not Treat?

Any emergencies need to be stabilized with western drugs and/or conventional procedures. Only after stabilization can TCVM and acupuncture help play a part in enhancing the recovery process.

Reason being is that acupuncture takes time as it involves stimulating techniques that require the body to heal itself by finding balance. I’d like to think of this ‘lag time’ as compensating for the potential side effects that conventional therapies may bring.

Types of Acupuncture

Besides the common dry needling techniques, acupuncturists also use many other types of techniques to further stimulate the acupoints.

• Dry Needle
  • Most common technique
  • Used for small acupoint areas
  • Stimulation lasts for about a week before the next treatment
• Aqua Acupuncture
  • Use of hypodermic needle to inject saline/vitamins/drugs/vaccine/blood into the acupoint
  • More long-lasting stimulation compared to dry needling — about 2 weeks before the next treatment
• Electroacupuncture
  • Passing a small electric current between pairs of acupoints
  • Effective for pain conditions
  • More long-lasting stimulation compared to dry needling and aqua acupuncture — up to 3 to 4 weeks
• Hemoacupuncture
  • Inserting a hypodermic needle into an acupoint located in a blood vessel to draw a few drops of blood
  • Effective for heat conditions
  • Contraindicated in anemia and blood loss conditions
• Laser Acupuncture
  • Using laser wavelengths to stimulate acupoints
  • Works just like dry needling but without the use of needles
  • For needle-sensitive patients
• Pneumoacupuncture
  • Injecting air into acupoints
  • Common for muscle atrophy conditions
• Moxibustion
  • Mugwort, a dried herb, is burned and heat is applied to the needle or held close to the acupoint (without needling it)
  • Effective for deficiency conditions with cold signs

Can It Cause Harm?

Generally no.

Acupuncture focuses on stimulating the body to achieve balance. Imagine when you’re in an ascending plane, and you feel pressure building up in your ears. You swallow or blow into your nose to equalize the air pressure. Similarly, think of acupoints as switches turning on to equalize and balance the body.

Compared to TCVM herbal medicine, it is even less likely to cause any worsening of the condition. Even with the wrong TCVM diagnosis and thus the ‘wrong’ acupoints used, it will not worsen the condition. It’s like trying to equalize the pressure in your sinuses instead of your ears on a plane — nothing worse will happen (provided the plane stays at the same altitude).

As certified acupuncturists, we know certain contraindications, especially for pregnant patients, such as avoiding the acupoints near the abdomen. Furthermore, a few acupoints only allow moxibustion and not the use of any needles. And of course, we avoid using heat (moxibustion) on heat conditions or cold (cooling acupoints) on cold conditions — logically speaking: not to add fuel to the fire.

Much More to TCVM

Acupuncture is just the tip of the iceberg of TCVM. Besides the other branches of TCVM like Tui-na, herbal medicine, and food therapy contributing to the complexity of the medicine, TCVM is a practice that requires years and years of experience to master.

Discovering the wonders of TCVM through acupuncture is just a step into this fascinating world. I’m looking forward to diving deeper into this wonderful medicine as I continue to practice it.