Question:
My dog suffers from hip dysplasia. She seems to be in a lot of pain, but I want to avoid the side effects of medication if I can. I’m looking into some alternative therapies that might reduce pain. Will acupuncture help her?
Answer:
In acupuncture, the body is like a freeway system, with Qi flowing through energy pathways called Meridians. In this analogy, the cars are the Qi and the freeways themselves are the Meridians. Pain is kind of like a car accident on the freeway. When there’s an accident on the freeway, the rest of the cars can’t travel through, which makes drivers cranky. When flow of Qi in the body is blocked, energy can’t travel through the Meridians, resulting in a cranky body–pain.
While acupuncture can’t fix the fact that a dog with hip dysplasia has a malformed hip socket, it can reduce the amount of pain associated with this disorder by removing the blockages to the flow of Qi. Acupuncture for dogs relaxes muscle tension that has accumulated through chronic compensation for this loose joint, easing a lot of the aches and pains that a dog will experience.
I often find that after seeing a dog for 3-10 visits (depending on the severity of their condition and how their bodies respond to acupuncture) that they are pain-free and only require “tune-ups” every couple of months to maintain their pain-free status!
Would you consider using acupuncture to treat your dog for pain that comes with hip dysplasia? Have you tried acupuncture for your dog to treat other ailments? Let us know in the comments below!
