goldacupuncture - questions and answers

Goldacupuncture for Dogs

Questions and Answers

Which diseases can be treated?

GOLD ACUPUNCTURE is used to treat mainly chronic arthritic joints, which are very painful to the dog and can restrict its mobility.

The same principle can be applied to any other animal, especially to horses. The most common reason for GOLD ACUPUNCTURE is a diagnosis of hipdysplasia. Elbowdysplasia, arthritis of the hip, knee, talocalcanean joint, shoulder and elbow, and an ossification of the spine (spondylosis) can also be treated. In horses i.e. navicular disease and spavin are treatable with GOLD ACUPUNCTURE.

We also got some good results with the Wobbler syndrome.

What can be achieved with GOLD ACUPUNCTURE?

This particular form of therapy is not a pure pain therapy meaning that only the pain is taken away as with conventional painkillers. Due to the particular influence of the acupuncture point, the metabolism of the affected joint will be improved.The consequence is real pain relief or even freedom of pain, but not by eliminating the pain transmission, but through the elimination of the cause of pain.If the therapy is successful, it not only leads to better general mobility but the dog will be much friskier and a better quality of life is experienced.GOLD ACUPUNCTURE , as with other conventional methods, does not eliminate the alterations in the joints (which you see in X-rays). It offers an improvement in mobility.In most cases, within a short period of time, the need for drugs is eliminated or in a few cases the dose can be reduced to a minimum. Of course there are also cases GOLD ACUPUNCTURE does not help, but this figure is far below 5%.

How long is GOLD ACUPUNCTURE effective?

This therapy is a one time intervention. According to our experience with this method (since 1989) GOLD ACUPUNCTURE is effective for the rest of a dog’s life. A precondition is the sensible handling of the animal with the understanding that there are still damaged joints, but the organism has learned to adjust to the problem. Through X-ray controls it was found that the gold-beads very rarely migrate in the body nor are they "consumed".

What are the side effects?

In contrast to other conventional methods of pain relieving for joints GOLD ACUPUNCTURE has shown no side effects thus far. After-care, common in any conventional surgery, is not necessary. There will not even be any scarring.

What are the risks?

When carefully performed by an expert, the risks are very low. To bring the gold-beads into the acupuncture points usually requires no general anesthesia. The dog only receives a strong sedative injection, which is tolerated even by old dogs
and can be rescinded with an antidote.

If the gold-beads were directly introduced into the joint, the dog would hardly be able to walk because of even greater pain. At this time there have been no reports of such an occurrence worldwide.
To avoid these complications, it is absolutely necessary that GOLD ACUPUNCTURE is carried out only by those vets who have a long experience with acupuncture.

Learning the basic technique is not too difficult but the skillful application in individual cases, on the other hand, requires thorough background knowledge.

What happens if GOLD ACUPUNCTURE has not achieved the desired results?

In these very rare cases the gold pieces do not hinder any different treatment, neither naturopathic nor conventional medical or surgical intervention. Even in these few cases where the mobility was not significantly improved, the animal owners report a better overall condition. Although it is localized manipulation, the effect extends to the entire body in the sense of holistic therapy - if this measure is not only done under surgical aspects, but according to the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

What is done in performing GOLD ACUPUNCTURE?

Conventional examination will confirm which joints are affected. After performing a cardiovascular check, the dog gets the sedative injection. As soon as the dog is asleep the respective acupuncture areas are clipped, washed and disinfected. Now a thick hollow needle is inserted into selected acupuncture points. A tweezer is used to insert the appropriate number of gold-beads into the needle and pushed down with a mandrin. As soon as all points have been treated this way an X-ray can be taken to ensure the proper placement of the gold-beads.

(see x-ray)

If the dog owner wants or if the animal needs it the antidote injection can be given, and after a short time the dog will awake. In this way all affected joints can be treated during one session.

What is the difference between
GOLD ACUPUNCTURE and GOLD BEADS IMPLANTATION

The two terms are almost equivalent. While Gold Bead Implantation (theoretically) can be performed by any veterinary surgeon, GOLD ACUPUNCTURE is the special form of a comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic approach. Although acupuncture will be given to the affected joints it affects the entire system, not only physically but also in the mental health area. In order to get full advantage of these opportunities the knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine and a lot of acupuncture experience is required.