We all want to conduct great acupuncture treatment to get the best results for our animal friends.

However, with 361 meridian acupoints present on the animal body (let alone another 100+ classical acupoints), how do we select the best acupoints for our treatments?

The great answer is that no, you do not need to learn 400+ acupoints to become a great animal acupuncture practitioner. In fact, the best 50-70 acupoints are used over and over again.

If you know the right permutations of important points to use in different conditions (e.g. musculoskeletal, gastro-intestinal, etc.), you will be well on your way to delivering great animal acupuncture treatments (without creating any headaches for yourself). This blog post outlines exactly how you can do that.

The Chief Constraint in Animal Acupuncture

Perhaps novices don’t know this, but the chief constraint in animal acupuncture is the number of needles used. No, your animal should not look like a pincushion or porcupine during their acupuncture treatment.

Animals are very sensitive to acupuncture and most healing modalities (incl. massage, osteo, herbs & Reiki). If too many acupuncture needles are used, there is a risk that the body’s adaptive capacity will be overwhelmed, leading to negative results for the animal (e.g. tiredness, lethargy & muscle cramps).

Do you know that feeling of having got run over by a bus after a strong osteo/chiro treatment? Well, we don’t want that for our animal patients, especially if they are sick or geriatric.

A standard animal acupuncture treatment will use only 5 to 15 needles. In fact, if your points are carefully chosen, you can get great results with 1-5 points. This means that every acupoint you use must be used to good effect and pull its weight in the animal’s treatment plan.

Two Systems of Point Selection in Animal Acupuncture

Given that there are so many acupoints available on the animal body, and that we must use a small number of points in our treatments, how do we make sure we select the best acupoints for the problem(s) the animal is presenting?

Luckily, there are two handy systems for selecting acupoints in animal acupuncture:

-Local, Distal and Special Point System

-Root & Branch System

We will cover these systems in turn.

Local, Distal & Special Points System

The Local, Distal & Special Points system is used in animal acupuncture when the problem affects a specific area of the body. I also call it the ‘point & shoot’ system. It is mostly used for problems that affect the exterior of the body and that we can see with our eyes, for example musculoskeletal problems (e.g. pain, lameness) & problems affecting specific body areas (e.g. eyes, ears, throat etc.).

The Local, Distal & Special Point Selection System can be used for problems as far ranging as:

• Shoulder problems
• Elbow problems
• Laminitis
• Eye problems (inc. conjunctivitis)
• Ear problems (inc. ears infections)
• Nose & sinus problems
• Neck problems
• Back problems
• Hindlimb problems
• & more (you get the gist).

In the Local, Distal & Special Point selection system, 3 types of points are used:

• Local points. These acupoints are close to the affected problem area. For example, for a shoulder problem, we would use Large Intestine 15 (LI15) and Triple Heater 14 (TH14), which are respectively the ‘anterior shoulder eye’ and ‘posterior shoulder eye’ (aka the big gaps you can feel in front & behind the shoulder joint). Local points work by reducing local inflammation, improving local blood flow, lymph drainage, & also modulating neural function (aka pain) in the affected area.
• Distal points. These are points located far away from the affected area. For a shoulder problem, we might use points located on the front foot/front hoof. You may ask - why would a point so far away from the shoulder be of any use? Well, under the Gate Theory of Pain, nerve signals from a place distal to the injured area (i.e. a nerve signal from an acupuncture needle inserted on the foot/hoof border) can block incoming nerve signals upstream (at the shoulder level). This is why the animal feels better when using both local & distal points.
• Special points. These are points that have a special property from a Traditional Chinese Medicine Perspective. Stomach 36 (ST36) is a very important point on the hindleg (near the stifle) for immunity & digestion problems. Current Western research is showing that ST36 is great at regulating vasotone (increasing or decreasing peripheral blood circulation), explaining its wide range of uses in Chinese Acupuncture. While Western science still needs to catch up with Chinese Medicine, we are discovering more every day about how exactly those ‘Special’ points work.

Local points to treat the Equine Shoulder (C) Animal Acupuncture Academy.

The great thing with using the Local, Distal & Special points system is that it provides a logical framework for tackling any localized problem. By learning a few local points for specific body areas (e.g. shoulder, neck, eyes, back) & combining them with a few distal/special points, we can get pretty great treatment results without having to learn the full 361 acupoints on the animal body.

Branch & Root Point Selection System

The Branch & Root Point Selection system has its root (!) in models of Integrative Medicine. Have you ever seen the image of the tree in Integrative Medicine, where the branches (leaves) represent symptoms and the trunk/roots represent the underlying problem?

While many Western medications focus solely on symptoms (i.e. the branches/leaves) without resolving the underlying problem (root/trunk), Traditional Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture try to take a full perspective on symptoms and their underlying cause(s).

For example, if a dog presents with diarrhea & vomiting, a Western approach might be to prescribe anti-diarrheals and anti-emetics, without necessarily looking into WHY the dog has these symptoms.

In Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture, we would look at tackling both the symptoms (so the animal is comfortable & the owner is happier) and the root cause of the problem, so the animal can have a long-standing improvement. This means that we would select acupoints that help both with symptom resolution & the underlying problem.

To help with the symptoms (diarrhea & vomiting), we would select Governing Vessel 1 (GV1), which is located just above the anus, to effectively close that ‘gate’. We would also select Pericardium 6 (PC6) on the front leg as this point is great to stop nausea/vomiting.

To help with the underlying problem (weak digestion or ‘Spleen Chi Deficiency’ in Chinese Medicine), we would use points that regulate the functions of the Stomach & Spleen (the organs of digestion in Chinese Medicine). We would use Bladder 20 and Bladder 21 around the lower thoracic spine, as these points regulate the autonomic innervation of the digestive organs.

Finally, Chinese Medicine would look at the root cause(s) of the problem: why is the animal having weak digestion? Is it because of exposure to the elements, poor nutrition, stress, or over-training? In fact, these lifestyle recommendations (based on Chinese Medicine wisdom) are often the key to getting long-standing results for animals & their guardians.

As in the example above, the Root & Branch system is often used for internal organ problems, where we can’t exactly ‘see’ where the problem is with our own eyes. Internal problems can be wide-ranging, for example including lung problems (e.g. infections, asthma), digestive problems, uro-genital problems, kidney problems, cardio-vascular problems and more.

Understanding the Root & Branch System of Point Selection can therefore provide a lot of power & versatility in your acupuncture treatments for internal medicine.

Acupuncture Point Selection Made Easy

There, you have it – you don’t need to learn multiple hundreds of acupoints to conduct effective animal acupuncture treatments.

By learning a few select important points & knowing how to combine them within the 2 main systems of Point Selection, you can help support animals with a wide range of conditions.

In fact, the Animal Acupuncture Academy’s Certificate in Animal Acupuncture provides you just the right amount of knowledge (& some very effective shortcuts) to learn the Art of Animal Acupuncture. If you are interested in learning more about Animal Acupuncture & becoming an Animal Acupuncture Practitioner yourself, don’t hesitate to download the AAA’s Course Brochure here or to get in touch with our Team for more information.