As they come along, I'd like to give you some examples of the exciting health changes that can occur because of acupuncture and Chinese medicine.

"Sugar" came into my office quite constipated.  She was having maybe one bowel movement a week, and it was very dry, very hard and very painful to pass.  Her owner had taken her to her vet who had done multiple enemas and prescribed laxatives in order to get the fecal matter to pass, and while this brought temporary relief, it didn't seem to last.

This is something that "Sugar" experienced as a kitten and periodically throughout her life, but it was always previously relieved by the medications and enemas - this episode was much more extreme.

"Sugar" is a manx - a breed of cat born without a tail.  The tailless condition is considered a deformation of the spine and in these cats, you will often find more abnormalities in the rest of the spine.  These abnormalities are often accompanied by congenital nerve dysfunction, and often what you see in manx cats is something called "Manx Disorder."  Symptoms associated with "Manx Disorder" include bowel or urinary incontinence and weakness or even paralysis of the hind limbs.

"Sugar's" vet felt that, while she didn't have your typical "Manx Disorder," she certainly seemed to have a mild case of it.

I diagnosed "Sugar" as being Qi and Blood deficient which lead to her Qi and Blood not moving properly (causing her bowels to "get stuck").

I performed electro-acupuncture on "Sugar's" low back and hips to bring Qi to the area.  Essentially, trying to remind her body and her nerves how to send the proper electrical signals to her bowels so that her stools could pass through easily.

To deal with the underlying cause of her bowel paralysis, I prescribed an herbal formula typically used for stroke victims with the idea that promoting proper nerve conduction (in Chinese medicine, Qi and Blood flow) is the same, whether you're treating a head or a tail.

Within one week, "Sugar's" bowel movements were much more frequent and much softer and within 3 weeks, "Sugar" was having completely normal bowel movements again!  I treated her monthly for the next couple of months, at which time she graduated from needing treatments for her constipation.  Every once in a while I run into "Sugar's Mom" and get an update - she's still doing well, with no recurrences, almost 3 years later!

Benny is a LOVELY guy. A giant, big-hearted teddy bear of a pup. Benny came to see me after rupturing his cruxiate ligament. Poor guy hurt his knee and was hobbling around like an old man! (Benny's only 7 years-old, by the way, he's got a LONG time left of playing with his pet and human family!) You see, Benny had done what MANY other dogs do during this time of year. It's FINALLY nice outside and when you get the chance to run after a long, shut-in winter, you RUN. Benny was going to have to wait with hurting knee for a month for his surgery because of all the other dogs ahead of him in line!

The vet gave him pain meds to help get him through the pain until surgery day, but his treat-hander-outer was hoping to keep him on lower doses of the medications. So we started doing acupuncture twice a week to keep his pain under control and to prepare him for his upcoming surgery. Benny also went home with an herbal formula that would do the same.

During the time prior to surgery, Benny's treat-hander-outer noticed that he was in good spirits! He was also in very little pain, which required lower doses of pain meds, just like they were hoping.

Benny's surgery day finally came and went and when I saw him for the first time after (a week after his surgery) I couldn't believe my eyes! Not only was he walking on his knee, he wasn't limping very much, either. On his second visit post-surgery, Benny waltzed right in with barely a hitch in his giddyup! The surgery that Benny had is pretty extensive, including reshaping of the bone in his knee. I've seen many pets who've had this surgery (while working at a vet clinic that performed such surgeries), and I've NEVER seen a dog with such a speedy recovery before!

I think this is a great case where biomedicine and natural medicine have worked together. While there was nothing that acupuncture could do to repair the torn ligament, acupuncture and Chinese herbs significantly reduced the amount of pain that was experienced, as well as prepared Benny's body for the surgery. His energy was already flowing smoothly pre-surgery, so it took very little to get back to that point.

Now, if only acupuncture could help keep this rearing-to-go pup calmer while his knee completely heals!