I’m right in the midst of an advanced acupuncture class at the Chi Institute of TCVM (Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine) and it’s super exciting! The class focuses on a style of acupuncture inspired by the balance method of Dr. Richard Tan, a celebrated human acupuncturist. This style uses minimal needles placed far away from the painful area in a location that mirrors it on another part of the body. The balance method is used to treat pain, mobility restrictions, and other conditions with almost instantaneous results.
Watching both people and animals in our class sessions has been truly amazing. Our head teacher, Bruce Ferguson, is also a certified human acupuncturist, allowing contrast. Most people and pets experience decreases in pain and mobility improvements of greater than 50%, and usually more like 80% (by their own assessment, or in the case of pets, by a demonstrated range of motion) within a few breaths of the placement of the needle.
The Challenge of Learning Acupuncture
As we are learning, it has taken us a few tries to find the right spot to place the needle; or we find we can improve results by adding a needle or two. Most of these points are in the foot or leg below the elbow or knee, and they can be a bit “zingy” at first. However, the chance of rapid and significant pain relief is worth that short-term discomfort. All the dogs (and horses) in our labs tolerated their needles well.
According to Dr. Ferguson, repeated visits are important to maintain the benefits of treatment for the long term, with the length of treatment typically depending on the length of time the problem has been going on, as with the original style of acupuncture we learned in our initial certification program. We recommend retreatment before the problem fully recurs.
The first section of the class involved some lectures online. In May we had two days onsite in Florida. This format gave us valuable tools to immediately bring the benefits of this new style to our patients. I’m very much looking forward to the final section in November!
I truly enjoy these classes. Not only because I enjoy learning, but because I can share my knowledge with my acupuncture patients.