Case report: Acupuncture in the treatment of osteoarthritis
Meet Poppy, a rescue labradoodle who is approximately 6-8 yrs of age. We first met Poppy at Dundas Vet Group in February 2015. She had been suffering from stiffness, lameness in her forelegs and difficulty negotiating stairs. A diagnosis had not been reached and speculative treatment by a previous vet had provided no relief for […] The post Case report: Acupuncture in the treatment of osteoarthritis appeared first on Dundas Veterinary Group.
Meet Poppy, a rescue labradoodle who is approximately 6-8 yrs of age.
We first met Poppy at Dundas Vet Group in February 2015. She had been suffering from stiffness, lameness in her forelegs and difficulty negotiating stairs. A diagnosis had not been reached and speculative treatment by a previous vet had provided no relief for Poppy, and her owner was becoming increasingly concerned about her quality of life.
On examination Poppy was tender on palpation along most of her spine and hips. She was placed on meloxicam, which is a non steroidal anti inflammatory drug, for pain relief and booked in to have x-rays taken to try and reach a diagnosis.
Her x-ray is shown below and shows a moderate bony reaction between various vertebrae. This is caused by osteoarthririts of the spine, something to which we refer as “Spondylosis”.
Poppy was placed on restricted exercise, continued the meloxicam and tramadol was added for additional pain relief.
She responded quite well to treatment but a residual stiffness was generally present including an intermittent forelimb lameness, all of which increased as her activity level was stepped up. As she was still a young dog, both ourselves and her owner were keen to try acupuncture to help Poppy.
Acupuncture was started in January 2016, initially once weekly with gradually increasing intervals and we have had a great response. Poppy now is on a treatment regime every 3 weeks and has been entirely weaned off tramadol. Her owner reports that she now enjoys a high level of activity with almost no stiffness and her quality of life has markedly improved. Clinically she has very little discomfort now even on deep palpation along her spine and it is a delight to have been able to help Poppy so much.
Poppy receiving her acupuncture.
Poppy becoming more relaxed during the session – a common occurrence during acupuncture.
Acupuncture has proved, in Poppy’s case to be a useful adjunct to traditional medicine and we look forward to incorporating it into treatment for other patients especially those with osteoarthritis.
The post Case report: Acupuncture in the treatment of osteoarthritis appeared first on Dundas Veterinary Group.
