Acupuncture for the horse - Stories and Costs please!

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OrangeEmpire

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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.
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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!!
 
My vet charges £40 all in for an accupunture visit. I got her out specifically to treat a shoulder injury incurred by over reaching then falling flat on her face. She was intermitantly lame under saddle for about 3 month. The vet came out stuck a few needles in and she was right immediately!

Never had a problem with the shoulder since. Another old boy gets it every 6 month for nerve problems in his hind legs, he is so much better after it. He can be a bit slow turning and slightly drunk looking if he hasn't been treated for a while, I was a sceptic but not any more
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The old horse gets it all along his spine and neck, I think the first time they work on them they only use about 4 - 8 needles on each side but since he's had so many treatments they can make him like a pin cushion so he gets about 6 over his quarters/thighs and and another 6 - 8 along his spine and neck (that's each side so about 24 - 30 needles)

He's a funny boy cos he's very lively (though drunk) but when they start the treatment he looks like he's been heavily sedates, he down, lip droops, eyes closing! After a treatment he's wild to ride, tanking off and trying to buck like a young un. He's had the needles in his face before but I'm not sure what it was for, it might have been his feet? Can;t really remember.

I would say give it a go, get someone that's recommended and qualified. My friend gets it for her MS and she find it really works seems to have slowed the process down (but obviously it's difficult to tell how quickly it would progress if the treatment hadn't been used)
 
http://www.equineacupuncture.co.uk/

Sue does a few of ours and we also have referral cases on our yard in livery for her to treat if they need more intensive treatment. She is a vet and a very skilled acupuncturist. The horses seem to get benefit from it and your boy sounds a prime candidate for it. It's fairly pricey as they often need sedating as well.
 
PrincessSparkle - that's very useful info, thank you!

Bossanova - that website is very useful, thanks. One of the local vets is a specialist in acupuncture so I guess I'll see what he says. Am dreading the thought that it is going to be hundreds of pounds! Perhaps I should sell a kidney...! (joke) It does sound like it has a chance of working anyway, fingers crossed!

Really appreciate both of your imputs. Thank you!!
 
I think most vets would try it woould try it without sedation first, ideally the want to see how the horse responds.

My mare had one needle near her hip to free up her back and she did try to cow kick the vet and I thought she had been hurt. But the vet said that it meant she has got the right spot, the muscle would be tight so it would feel like someone pinging her with a rubber band (and being a chestnut mare that warrants a cow kick) it wasn't a vicious kick just a piss off (she's had foals and can do a nice shoving cow kick to remove people from her space without doing much damage
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It shouldn't cost hundreds of pounds, I'm in Scotland and it's £40 including call out etc so surely down south won't be drastically much more.
 
Hi, I've registered so that I can post instead of asking my sister to speak for me. Our vet does acupuncture and has been out twice to my sister's horse, she had sore neck muscles, which affected her way of going and her behaviour. It worked really well BUT it cost about £200 each visit. The vet was here about 2 hours each time. The mare didn't need sedation but vet wanted her outside just in case she bounced. A neighbour has had it successfully for her horse with unexplained recurrent lameness I have had acupuncture myself for 2 episodes of severe back pain and would recommend it. I found it painless.
 
If you can't access acupuncture try shiatsu - a form of acupressure - uses same points and channels but not needles, I know one retired vet who does laser acupuncture with good results
 
Pearlsasinger - Thank you for registering! (and welcome!) £200 each visit sounds about right from what I've heard. Hey ho. I fear he may need as many as 6 sessions to get him started, altho I feel if he's not showing a consistent positive response after a few, I'll be rethinking this option. Glad to hear so many success stories - this is all very encouraging.

Sunbeam - you're new too! hello! Shiatsu eh? I'm sure I've heard of someone locally who does that.... I'll look into it.

Princesssparkle - Jack is a little free with his hind legs when the acupuncture vet visits us (he does normal work too and Jack took an instant and determined dislike of him!), I think the vet will be hoping his neck is the bit that needs treating! Otherwise could be interesting for all concerned!
 
The current Appy had it from our vet for a neck injury which was affecting her shoulder, she had two treatments and was fine after that. It made a huge difference to her. A friend also had treatment for lameness (cause unknown) and he is now in fine form too. Can't remember cost, but was very good.
 
OrangeEmpire I am very interested in your story. My horse has been lame for 3 months now and the vet suspects shoulder problem (nerve blocks have been done and he was worse so its deff not the foot) However i think maybe his neck is the problem as he has a lump appeared in the last few months and also when he had the physio he was better but his neck went really hard to touch for two weeks or so. Unfortunatley where I am based we cant xray and its a long stressfull journey to get to one!

So basically, how was the arthiritis in the neck disgnosed and did he have any heat/swelling as my boy has none. The vet has reccomended acupuncture so I will be giving this a try shortly too!
 
Hi NewydP. Jack had a bonescan to identify which vertibrae were affected, this helped with targetting the right points for treatment.

He had coordination problems and hind limb lameness, with intermittent forelimb lamenss initially. 3 years on you can now feel the boney spurs through the skin on his neck, poor boy, as they are so pronounced.

He had cortizone injections into the joints to help get him moving again but it was the 6 months of groundwork and then a further 6 months of riding in walk to build up topline that made all the difference. Now he is sound as long as he has his neck flexed a bit as this releases the nerves, but he's developed this secondary problem as discussed above.

I can't honestly say if your horse is likely to be similar, he never had a lump of any sort. Could it be a hernia in the muscle? Certainly sounds like he has some muscular spasm issues going on if his neck is so stiff! I do carrot stretches every day and these have made a huge difference.

I hope you start to see some improvement soon! have you had the physio back again? has the vet seen this lump?

Edited because I can't spell
 
Hi all!

I know a fair bit about acupuncture - let's go no further! Let's just say that it works, but because science can't yet put it in a little box, it's dismissed by many as hocus pocus!

It's reassuring that more and more vets are starting to train in acupuncture, but their training is a few weekends, while your human acupuncturist has done a degree in it. Fair do's, vets' training is long + arduous, but acupuncture is a medical science in itself, if the full benefit of Chinese medicine is appreciated + used.

I find it very sad that human acupuncturists, trained in traditional Chinese ways, are not only restricted in their treatment of humans, but downright forbidden by law to treat animals (unless they're our own)

Just ask your vet to give approval for an acupuncturist to treat your horse + post answer! I'm very lucky that both my horsey vet and my doggy vet are broad-minded, and encompass both acupuncture and homeopathy.

Cost? Don't know, sorry. For humans, acupuncture is £30 -£40-ish for an hour (London area probably more). I'm confident that acupuncture will help, in the right hands, and at a sensible price, and i wish you well.

Interesting to hear other views, forum friends? All bests BS x
 
Unfortunatley the physio is not back for another few months as I am on an Island and we dont even have a resident farrier! He is on danilon until he gets his feet done in 2 weeks as last time he was shod it made a huge difference. The lameness started in Sept with him going from slightly lame to not being able to trot & lame on all 4 legs within 2 weeks - prior to this he was sound and ridden regularly so this was very sudden. And no heat or swelling so its a mystery. After getting his foot banance changed he went sound for a few days then just very lame on one leg.

Im baffled as are the vets. Hopefully the remedial farriery will do some good, failing that its a 5hr journey (including a ferry) to get xrays!!
 
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