A lizard in Dallas, an African penguin in Boston and an oberhasli goat in Chicago are just some examples of animals that have recently benefited from zoos and aquariums in acupuncture therapy. As acupuncture is widely used in human medicine in the United States, it has also become increasingly common in veterinary practice, especially for pain management.

Talk to the United States interviewed Joe Smith, assistant professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Tennessee, an expert in farm veterinary medicine and veterinary clinical pharmacology, to introduce the trend. He describes the uses of acupuncture currently used to treat many species, from domestic cats and cats to large animals such as horses, cows and camels:

Is veterinary acupuncture modeled on the traditional Chinese version?

There are two thoughts about veterinary acupuncture. The original form of acupuncture has been practiced for thousands of years, following the principles of traditional Chinese medicine. It looks at patients through the lens of five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

Each element is associated with different types of energy. Practitioners strive to maintain a balance between these energies, which they believe is crucial for a healthy body to work.

Another approach focuses on the anatomical effect on the body. Practitioners put needles into the stimulation of muscles or nerves to achieve specific effects.

Both versions of acupuncture can help veterinary patients. They use very small, flexible needles, about one tenth of a millimeter wide - less than a hundred inches. Needles are placed in various parts of the body to cause specific reactions to connective tissue, muscles and nerves.

The needle can be used by itself or at low levels of current - a process called an electric needle. Both approaches work, but studies show that the benefits of ElectroAcupunure last longer.

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Research shows that acupuncture is used on animals?

Both acupuncture and electroacupuncture increase the body's compound levels, called endogenous opioids. These are substances that naturally produce pain in the human body. They work similarly to drug opioids such as fentanyl and morphine.

Acupuncture can greatly increase these compounds so that the effect can be reversed with opioids such as Narcan.

Small vegetarian medical studies have shown that the use of acupuncture can speed up the healing of nerve injuries, such as spinal disc injuries. In this case, the material of the disk between the spinal cord vertebrae is damaged and pressure is applied to other parts of the nervous system.

A herniated disc can be very painful for animals. A 2023 study found that nearly 80% of the animals recovered when treating dogs with this condition with acupuncture, while 60% of the animals were conservatively managed without acupuncture. Acupuncture can also create other techniques, such as epidural block, which will be more effective when both methods are used together.

Many veterinarians use acupuncture creatively for other purposes, such as increasing the appetite of animals, improving their digestion and accelerating the healing of the wound.

How does your veterinary group use acupuncture?

Our practice at the University of Tennessee uses acupuncture the most extensively to help recover animals recovered from diseases such as radial nerve paralysis and femoral nerve damage. We can use acupuncture to stimulate the muscles or provide pain relief on our own or in combination with other therapies.

At our farm animal hospital, we regularly use acupuncture for horizontal or “falling” animals. This is a veterinary term for animals that cannot be tolerated for a long time.

With acupuncture and occasional electroacupuncture, we can stimulate muscles and nerves that cannot function properly. This helps prevent muscle mass atrophy or waste and thinning.

Every day, large animals descend, their muscle atrophy and fluid build up around injured limbs or joints. These effects can prolong recovery and even reduce their chances of recovery.

By using acupuncture to stimulate atrophic muscles, the veterinarian can begin to reverse the process. We have used acupuncture extensively on large animals, including cattle, horse, camel, alpaca, sheep, goat, pig and even camels.

One example is a goat that is damaged by spinal cord caused by parasite migration - a disease called cerebrospinal nematode disease or "mening worms." Worm larvae are usually white-tailed deer-infected goat parasites, which pass through the animal's digestive tract, and then migrate to the spinal cord and nervous system. They get lost and die there, causing inflammation that can cause significant harm.

We use acupuncture and electroacupuncture to stimulate the goat's large and appendage spinal nerves, as well as the muscles of the animal's legs and back. This makes goats more muscular when inflammation clears, which we think helps relieve pain.

We also have achieved good results for acupuncture treatments for camels and alpacas, which are widely used in the smoked mountains of Tennessee to transport visitors’ equipment up and downhill. Large animals like these ages can develop osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease that causes incredible pain and debilitation to them. Acupuncture and electroacupuncture can help them keep moving forward.

Our horse services mainly use acupuncture for rehabilitation, helping horses recover from injuries.

One of the advantages of acupuncture and electroacupuncture in large animals is that they do not have many adverse effects. Drugs may have side effects such as nausea and diarrhea and may cause potentially serious complications. There is little adverse effect when the acupuncture needle placed by a trained veterinarian is properly completed.

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Are pet owners confident that their veterinarians recommend acupuncture?

If nerves or muscles are involved, acupuncture or electroacupuncture may be used with veterinary treatment options. New research regularly adds to our understanding of the neurology and biochemistry underlying these therapies.

Although we are still learning, if your veterinarian recommends acupuncture for aging dogs or cats (especially for chronic pain), you can be sure that this is not the accompanying treatment. As long as the person treats your pet is a licensed veterinarian and certified by professional organizations such as Curasol, Ka University or the American College of Veterinary Acupuncture, acupuncture should make your pet more comfortable and improve their quality of life.