An ancient medical practice from the East is helping treat illness in an animal that’s a symbol of the American West.

Some veterinarians are now offering acupuncture therapy, most often for household pets. But horses appear to respond especially well to the pain relief and healing effects of veterinary acupuncture, local veterinarian Tracy Kelly said.

Acupuncture was pioneered centuries ago by the Chinese, who found that the stimulation of certain points on the body has therapeutic effects.

Tracy Kelly performs acupuncture on equine patient Rusty at her McLennan County veterinarian clinic.
Jerry Larson/Waco Tribune-Herald

The locations are called acupoints and contain nerve endings.

Insertion of fine, flexible needles into the acupoints causes the brain to generate chemicals that decrease pain or have other desirable effects, said Kelly, who owns Ramsgate Veterinary Clinic, 843 Sundown Drive, in McLennan County, just west of Waco.

Problems such as the degeneration of the navicular bone and other hoof problems, and general lameness can be helped with acupuncture in horses, Kelly said.

Kelly has been a veterinarian since finishing her veterinary training at Texas A&M University in 1995.

She owns a large and small animal practice serving horses, dogs, cats and other non-exotic house pets.

Last year, she completed a 130-hour course of training at the Chi Institute in Reddick, Fla., in veterinary acupuncture. She began offering the therapy last June.

Kelly said that while acupuncture is an alternative to conventional treatment, it doesn’t replace it.

“It’s an integrative therapy. We don’t need to throw our knowledge out the window,” she said. “It’s another tool in the tool box.”

When doing acupuncture, Kelly feels along certain lines on the body, termed meridians, for small indentions that show the presence of acupoints. The needles are inserted in the acupoints and are left in for 20 to 60 minutes.

In some cases, electrical stimulation may be added to the therapy.

Kelly charges $90 for an initial visit and $60 for follow-ups.

Acupuncture’s effectiveness in animals is not well-studied, said Dr. Leslie Easterwood, assistant clinical professor with the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine.

Evidence from the 15 years the practice has been around in animal therapy, though, indicates it can be valuable in treating pain and for nerve stimulation, Easterwood said.

Assertions that it will help many other ailments, including some that affect internal organs, have not been documented through scientific studies, she said.

Trying acupuncture is unlikely to cause any harm, she said. Animal owners need to be careful in choosing acupuncture that they are not causing critical delay in a proven conventional therapy that might work better, Easterwood said.

Bill Easley, a Waco civil engineer who breeds horses, said acupuncture was an important part of healing for El Cid, his 3-year-old Egyptian Arabian that sustained a deep cut on an ankle last November.

The cut became infected, and surgery could not be done until the infection cleared.

Veterinarians at Texas A&M tried conventional treatments to deal with the infection, but it didn’t work, Easley said.

Bones in the ankle began to deteriorate and it looked like El Cid would be destroyed.

Someone then suggested a veterinarian in San Marcos, Lu Ann Groves, who uses alternative methods, including herbal cures and acupuncture, he said.

It worked, Easley said. El Cid is recovering and should be in good shape in November, a year after he was hurt, Easley said. Acupuncture helped increase blood circulation and eased the horse’s pain enough to allow it to stand on the leg, he said.

bteeter@wacotrib.com

757-5734