548 Canine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation
Low-level laser therapy can be applied
directly on acupuncture points to induce stimu-
lation of the points. Treatment can be done with
either a class 3B or class 4 therapeutic laser at
routine settings for the individual body region.
Moxibustion is performed using the dried
herb Artemisia rolled into a cigar shape and
burned 1.5 cm over the acupuncture point with-
out touching the skin. This stimulates acupunc-
ture points through a warming technique and is
typically used on patients with chronic arthritis
that is worse in cold weather.
Hemoacupuncture has two forms of stimula-
tion. The first form is the withdrawal of a small
amount of blood from acupuncture points
located directly on blood vessels. For example,
Tai-yang is located on the transverse facial vein
just lateral to the lateral canthus of the eye. This
technique is primarily used for febrile diseases.
The second form is the injection of the patient’s
blood into acupuncture points. This technique
is used for autoimmune diseases.
Pneumoacupuncture is the injection of air
into the subcutaneous space in areas where
there is muscle atrophy. The theory behind this
technique is that the air puts pressure on the
acupuncture points and stimulates them until
the air is absorbed.
Gold therapy is the injection of sterile gold,
in the form of a small wire or bead, directly into
acupuncture points. The gold creates an ionic
change in the tissues that stimulates the points
for a prolonged period of time.
Acupuncture point selectionLocal points are those located directly in the
area to be treated, and they are selected largely
to treat pain. ST-36 is a local point for the stifle
as it is located just distal to the tibial plateau
in the cranial tibial muscle. Distal points are
located either distal or caudal to the area to be
treated, and they are selected for the patient
that finds it too painful at the local site and/or
to draw edema or swelling from the local site.
LIV-3 is located between the 2nd and 3rd meta-
tarsals proximal to the metatarsophalangeal
joint, so quite distal to the stifle, and is com-
monly used to treat stifle pain. Another option
is to select points proximal/cranial and distal/
caudal. A patient with intervertebral disc dis-
ease at T13–L1 can be treated with BL-20 (lat-
eral to the caudal border of the dorsal spinous
process of T12) and BL-23 (lateral to the caudal
border of the dorsal spinous process of L2).It is
important to know the anatomic location and
clinical indication of acupuncture points to
make an appropriate therapeutic point selec-
tion. Since there are approximately 360 acu-
puncture points there are many options for
point selection for individual conditions. Points
that are most commonly used in veterinary
medicine are selected for their ease of anatomic
location and acceptance by animal patients.
Points along the neck, back, hips, and shoul-
ders are commonly used in dogs as they are
well tolerated due to their location in largeFigure 22.2 Doberman receiving a combination of electroacupuncture and dry acupuncture.