UPDATE: Please be aware that our opening hours have changed on Monday 19th September. Please contact us for any emergency care.
What is Pain Management?
When looking at pain management, we provide a holistic approach to maintaining your pets’ quality of life where surgery is not an option. Any therapy will be specifically tailored to your pet, and could include changing and optimising your pets medications, acupuncture, physical therapies or dietary and lifestyle advice.
To ensure the most effective treatment, we need to know exactly what the source of pain is that we’re managing – so an accurate diagnosis prior to referral to the pain management clinic is very important. With that in mind, we only take cases that have been assessed by our specialist services first.
When your pet is referred to the pain management clinic, the initial consultation will include a comprehensive assessment by our anaesthesia and physiotherapy team. They’ll discuss your pet’s history, collate invaluable information from a quality of life questionnaire and review your pet’s medication before performing a physical examination to confirm the source of pain and any clinical signs related to compensatory mechanisms. Our team will then discuss our findings and recommend a course of treatment that’s best for your pet.
In addition to physical therapies including those found here, acupuncture has become increasingly popular as a treatment for managing pain.
What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture is the practice of inserting fine, solid needles into the body for pain relief or, in some cases, to help the body deal with other diseases. It works through the nervous system, with the needles blocking the pain messages and encouraging the brain and central nervous system to produce more of the body’s natural painkillers.
What kinds of conditions are treated with acupuncture?
Usually pain associated with arthritis, but also muscle strains, pain secondary to disc disease and bony changes of the spine.
Will it hurt my pet?
Absolutely not! Acupuncture needles stimulate nerves that send a message to the brain, blocking pain. Sometimes animals may react to this sensation as though they are expecting pain, but don’t panic! They then relax and most of the time accept the fine needles with no adverse reaction at all. In fact, they usually become extremely relaxed and a little bit sleepy during the treatment – often looking forward to their next acupuncture session!
How often would my pet be treated?
The usual course is once a week for four to six weeks.
And what about after the treatment?
It is not uncommon for pets to go home and sleep very soundly for a long time. This is a good sign and shows that your pet will probably respond well to acupuncture.
Want to find out more? Please get in touch with us here or call us on 01582 853878 and we can advise you on a case by case basis.
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