When traditional veterinary medicine leads us down a dead-end street, we horsepeople tend to keep searching for solutions. Few of us are willing to give up a relationship with a tried and true friend (let alone an expensive one) without seeking alternative solutions. As a result, many of us have experimented with chiropractic, massage, magnets, supplements, and herbal medicine with our horses. And some of us, having seen positive results with our animals, try or are tempted to try such therapies for our own aches and pains.

When an alternate therapy is non-invasive or "harmless" (the worst it can do is have no positive affect), I'm usually willing to give it a try if I've heard some positive reports. I recently delved into the world of acupuncture, based on the recommendation of another horsewoman. The results have been impressive.

My friend, Nancy, was diagnosed with a degenerative joint condition which has made riding painfuland sometimes impossibleover the last several years. Western medical doctors have recommended anti-inflammatories, pain killers, surgery, and staying out of the saddle to avoid aggravating the arthritis, bone spurs, and tremendous inflammation in her hip joints. Not one to quit easily, Nancy has used a combination of chiropractic care and naturopathic remedies and found some relief, but the pain has gradually increased over the years and the long-term prognosis has not been good. Hoping to stave off surgery, Nancy turned to acupuncture. The pain relief has been immediate. While her condition may never be 100% "cured," she shows signs of reaching a compromise position of self-limited exercise and treatment as needed.

Like many people, Nancy needed to attain a certain level of desperation in order to try acupuncture. The big stumbling block? Needles. Unfortunately, the term "needle" is probably the biggest disservice ever done to the acupuncture communitythe needles used in most acupuncture treatments are finer than the width of a human hair. Veterinary acupuncturists do, of course, use stouter needles, needed to get through the thicker hides of fur-covered creatures, but if these beastly needles have misdirected your expectations, think again.

At Nancy's insistence, I decided to try acupuncture for a long-term sinus condition. Since then, we've both taken additional family members for treatment and been impressed with the results. I'm now convinced this 2,000-year-old therapy can be an effective treatment for certain maladies.

Riders, being the accident-prone group that they are, have much to gain from acupuncture. While we'll still need traditional Western medical care to set bones and the like, acupuncture can help the body repair damage (knit bones, reduce trauma to muscles and tissue) and, in most cases, provide immediate pain relief. Instead of masking symptoms, as pain medications do, acupuncture encourages muscles to relax, and stimulates natural blood flow. In short, acupuncture supports the body's inherent healing system. In addition, acupuncture encourages the body's overall health, by treating the body as a wholeas opposed to focusing on a single area or symptom (such as a sprained shoulder) as a separate entity. As with any treatment, the sooner an acute condition is addressed, the greater the chances are for more complete recovery and the less time will be needed to treat the problem.

I was so impressed with the results that my friends and I have achieved, I decided to interview my acupuncturist, Paul Rosen, with respect to horse-related injuries. Paul, a licensed acupuncturist, has been working from his Vancouver, Washington office since 1993. In addition to formal education in California, he has studied in China and Switzerland. Returning to California, he did additional training in San Diego, with the teacher he considers to have been his strongest influence.

Paul begins his treatments with a discussion of the patient's medical history and current complaints, assessing the patient's overall condition. Because acupuncture can treat more than one part of the body at a time, you might come in for relief of a knee injury and find improvement in an old ankle injury as an unexpected benefit. Paul refers to this as addressing the greater pattern, in addition to the specific complaint. Put more poetically, "acupuncture treats the root in addition to the branch." Said another way, acupuncture looks for underlying causes.

"The body adapts to disfunction," Paul notes. "When an injury heals poorly, the body adopts further disfunction and degeneration." An example of this is chronic inflammation of a "healed" injury site.

Paul likes the combination of chiropractic care with acupuncture for injuries involving subluxations and misalignments, such as whiplash or a dislocated shoulder. Used before a chiropractic treatment, acupuncture can make it easier for the practitioner to make an adjustment. Used after chiropractic treatment, acupuncture can stabilize connective tissue, helping the adjustment to "hold."

In any injury involving swelling, acupuncture can enhance the function of the cells, helping them recover more quickly. To the athlete, this translates to a faster recovery time. "While a diuretic may work to reduce swelling," Paul says, "it impedes other cell functions. Acupuncture enhances cell function by opening blood vessels. Increased blood flow helps to move the good (nutrients and oxygen) in, and move the bad (toxins and waste) out." With prompt treatment using acupuncture, an injured rider can have less pain, reduced down time, and no negative side affects.

In an injury like a concussion, brain cells are injured. "Acupuncture helps to reorient the cells," Paul adds, "recovering their ability to act normally more quickly." This translates to less pain and disorientation to the victimin addition to a shorter recovery time.

When an injury involves a break, Paul likes to see the patient soon after the cast has been applied by a physician. As with strains, acupuncture can provide pain relief, encourage faster healing, and stimulate healing. Best of all, treatment is non-invasive.

Still wondering about those needles? The number used and where they are placed will vary with the condition(s) being treated and the preferences and technique of the practitioner. While there are several different "schools" of acupuncture, most treatments are based on the concept of a meridian mapexternal points on the body that correspond to internal organs and bodily functions. As Paul puts it, "The body communicates with itself in ways that aren't necessarily obvious." For example, a blow to the head might be treated with needles placed in the feet. The depth at which the needles are placed varies according to location: needles are placed closer to the surface in, say, a hand than they would be in a fleshier location, such as a thigh. "If a person is fearful, I use fewer needles," Paul assures, indicating his willingness to accommodate the personal needs of each client.

When he examines a client, Paul looks for reactive spots on the body that correspond to the meridian map. For example, he might press along the outside of the calf muscle, asking for feedback to locate a sore spot. He'll ask the client to inhale as he inserts the needle, and then tell the client to exhale and relax. From my own experience, sometimes a spot will ache slightly when a needle is inserted (especially in a well-toned area, like the biceps); sometime it will sting; in other locations I'll feel almost nothing at all. While I was nervous about the first treatment (being afraid of needles, despite the hair-thin width of the acupuncture kind), I've come to enjoy the treatments and relax despite the occasional twingethe benefits far outweigh any minor discomfort. Once the needles are inserted, it is important to lie still. Moving the muscles will cause an ache at the point of insertion. The highlight of my treatment is being asked to relax for 45 minutes with the lights dimmed and the door shut. A side benefit of acupuncture is that it provides an improved overall sense of well-being and calmsomething we can all use more of.

Will your insurance cover the cost of acupuncture? Check with your provider. Coverage varies widely, depending on the kind of policy you have. If you don't have insurance coverage, check with the practitioner before beginning treatment: some have a sliding scale, based on the client's ability to pay.

For busy riders, the time commitment involved in acupuncture may be its biggest drawback. An acute condition may require two to three sessions of treatment per week, initially; decreasing to one treatment weekly as the condition improves. While surgery or medication may work more quickly in some cases, most have associated risks and side effects; others address symptoms as opposed to underlying causes.

For the medical condition that doesn't respond to traditional treatment or for the person wishing to avoid surgery or long-term medication, acupuncture may well be worth a try. "At worst," says Paul, "acupuncture will do nothing. For most people, something positive will happen."

The phone rings and it's Nancy, the friend who referred me to acupuncture in the first place. "I rode last night and my hip doesn't hurt," she tells me, excitedly. While there are no promises in life, acupuncture has given her immediate relief and hope for the future. For riders, it is most definitely a course of treatment worth a closer look.