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Great information, Susan.  Thanks.

 

Dyane

----- Original Message -----

From: Susan E. Garlinghouse, D.V.M.

To: 'Dyane Smith' ; 'Ridecamp (E-mail)'

Sent: Sunday, June 18, 2006 10:17 AM

Subject: RE: [RC] Vitamin E deficiency in horses

 

Susan, what conditions respond best to acupuncture?

 

Dyane (home of many lame horses

 

The very best responses are chronic or acute muscle spasms/inflammation secondary to overwork, poor saddle fit, poor equitation, things like that.  One session is usually enough to get the muscles to relax and give the horse some relief.  The elctro stim works on the same principles as a TENS unit, the primary difference being that a TENS electrode pad is placed on the skin---so it has to overcome the resistance of hair and skin before the current can reach muscle, and so does so fairly poorly and superficially.  If the electrical pulses are sent down through a thin needle instead, there?s no skin/hair resistance to overcome, the placement is very specific and exact and the current can be delivered up to eight inches below the skin.  Pretty powerful stuff.

 

General arthritis issues also respond to acupuncture, but it generally takes more than one session, and may just be too expensive for multiple visits.  I?ve used it for horses that are having some pretty serious for different inflammatory conditions, but wouldn?t use it exclusively without other therapies as well (bute, fentanyl, whatever).  I used it in one horse with terrible acute laminitis, and it may or may not have helped, but I was also using every other anti-inflammatory available, the acupuncture was not in any way the only therapy used.

 

I don?t use it myself for acute colic, but I know some other vets that swear by it.  You?ll never catch me throwing away my supplies of banamine or buscopan in favor of acupuncture.

 

I work pretty often at a barn full of dressage horses and they can get pretty darn sore.  The acupuncture seems to really help if they?re treated for general muscle ouchiness (none of them show on bute), especially for the 4^th and Prix St George level horses.  At least, the owner says they don?t pin their ears and swish their tails when she touches their back and hindquarters and they can handle much longer and harder training sessions (yes, these guys really do work for a living).

 

So I think it?s terrific for muscle problems, useful but maybe not economically feasible for chronic arthritis, and less-valuable-than-pharmaceuticals for acute medical issues.

 

JMO.

 

Susan Garlinghouse, DVM, MS