at a glance

UNDERSTANDINGEQUINE ACUPUNCTURE
ties, including nerve blocks, flexion tests, ultrasound, radiology,
and nuclear scintigraphy to achieve the best diagnosis and
the best possible treatment.
Horses have different degrees of sensitivity. Therefore, detecting
sensitive acupoints properly takes years of practice.
Sensitivity to acupuncture can differ among breeds and
within breeds just as those horses react differently to other
stimuli. Similarly, young foals have different responses than
older horses. Diagnostic acupuncture is very difficult in
horses that are being treated with corticosteroids because
acupoints are less reactive. The corticosteroids block the inflammation
that makes acupoints reactive. As a result, the
practitioner might obtain false information. Horses with
acute diseases also are difficult to palpate. After an injury,
there may be reduced reactivity for three to four days. It is
not known why this occurs.
Many of the acupoints used for diagnostic purposes are to
the outside of the dorsal midline between the long muscles
of the back. Some of these points relate to systemic physiology,
local physiology, local anatomy, or endocrinology.
Superficial pain felt in organic disease usually occurs where
sensory nerves and segmental nerves from the viscera enter
the spinal cord. Many diagnostic points lie on the Bladder
meridian. This meridian runs alongside the vertebral column
where spinal nerves emerge at the head of each intercostal
space.
Some very skilled acupuncturists can use Ting points, the
points around the coronary band, for diagnosis. This is done
by feeling each Ting point to see if the point is hard, soft,
firm, fluidy, hot, or cold. The meridian related to the abnormal
Ting point is then examined.
Trigger points also can be incorporated in the diagnostic
examination. They are only present when there is injury or
disease; they don’t show up in healthy subjects. Trigger
points are usually tender to pressure only when pathologic
changes occur in related musculoskeletal structures. Direct
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