Acupuncture for the horse - Stories and Costs please!

[OrangeEmpire]

My 17 TB has nerve problems in his hind legs due to arthritis in his neck. This causes malcoordination in the right hind and now also appears to be causing the cannon bone of that leg to thicken making it hot and sore. The theory on this is that the nerves are getting the wrong signals and are convinced there is a problem with the bone and therefore the body is trying to fix this problem by adding more bone.

The vet tells me that there is nothing medically he can do to fix this and we are limited to managing the pain with bute. While this should keep my horse comfortable it won't do anything to prevent the continued deterioration of that leg, making his untimely demise rather more likely.

So I'm interested in the possibility of acupuncture being potentially able to interupt these nerve signals and therefore make a significant difference to his long term prognosis...

Has anyone used acupuncture? how much did it cost? He is not insured (uninsurable!) so i will have to foot the bill myself. I'm determined to give him every possible chance, but can't bankrupt myself!

Thank you for your help!!

 

[shazza283]

Hi

The only way that arthritis in a neck could cause this would be if the bony change or swelling related to the arthritis was pushing on the spinal cord which would be unusual - there wouldn't be a way for acupuncture to change the effects of nerve tissue that deep.

If something is pushing on the spinal cord the signals are already being stopped so you don't want to stop them any more. It's the information coming back from the leg telling his brain exactly where the leg is and what it's doing that isn't getting back to the brain - so he can't co-ordinate his movement fully.

This is what happens in wobbler syndrome - instabilty of the vertebral column - the bony bit around the spinal cord - causes pressure on the spinal cord cutting off the correct nerve supply/ impulses to and from the limbs particularly the hind limbs. This makes the horse wobbly or in co-ordinated.

Could it be the neck stiffness / pain from the arthritis is stopping him being able to use his neck to balance properly and therefore causing him to throw his weight over to one side ?

Having said all that acupuncture does seem to help some horses with pain - so it might alleviate some of the pain in his hindlimb and if there's pain associated with the neck it might help there also.

No idea of the costs

Just one last thought - could physio help? - sometimes they can work on strengthening and movement - my big chestnut mare was very clumsy (big gangly girlie) and my physio helped her movement and co-ordination by taping exercises to help her feel what she was doing and use her muscles better. - £50 inc visit first session but discounts for further sessions and group bookings.