Thirteen had her first acupuncture appointment this morning. Perhaps it sounds silly, but my perspective is that if a treatment works, I don't care whether it's a drug or acupuncture or pyramid power or what. Besides, acupuncture on a dog is a blind experiment of sorts. She doesn't know what's happening so there can't be a placebo effect.
The appointment was at Cole Park Veterinary Hospital, south of Chapel Hill. It was a consultation first, which was a little frustrating because they didn't have Thirteen's file, even though I had called St. Francis weeks ago to fax it to them. Dr. Pagel (the acupuncturist) said they might have received it and misplaced it. Whatever the reason, I ended up having to tell her everything that should have been there in the file. Thirteen's bronchitis, her discospondilitis, her enlarged heart and spleen, the selegiline, etc etc etc. I hope I didn't miss anything! Dr. Pagel said she'd make sure they had the file by the next appointment, but I'm going to call St. Francis too to be sure.
After the consultation she did the acupuncture. I had never seen it done before. The needles were very thin and flexible, and came in two lengths. Dr. Pagel sort of rolled them between her fingers as she inserted them. She said that Thirteen might not feel them at all, especially on the back. And indeed Thirteen only flinched once, when one of the needles went into her bad leg.
Thirteen ended up with needles in her back, hips, and her bad front leg, plus one in her forehead. We had to wait for 15 minutes with the needles in. Dr. Pagel said that adults have to wait longer, but children and animals feel the effect more quickly. I had to prevent Thirteen from shaking, in case she shook out the needles. But she was very good. She only tried to shake once and didn't dislodge any needles.
Dr. Pagel said that some dogs find it so relaxing that they lie down and go to sleep. (I didn't know how they could lie down with a bunch of needles stuck in their side, but that's why the needles are so flexible and bendy.) I knew Thirteen would never relax enough to lie down. Being at the vet's office totally freaks her out. But at least she wasn't any more freaked out than at any other vet appointment. By the end of the 15 minutes she had calmed down enough to walk around the room and listen to the sounds outside the door.
I wish now that I had asked Dr. Pagel to put one of the needles in me too, so I would know what it felt like. It really didn't seem to bother Thirteen. In fact Dr. Pagel missed one when she was removing them, and Thirteen had it in her leg the whole way home! I didn't see it until we were on the road, and I wasn't able to remove it until we got home. But she was totally normal in the car, alternately lying down and sitting up, looking out the window. So I guess the needle wasn't painful.
So Dr. Pagel said that we might not see much result the first time. Thirteen does seem more relaxed this evening, but she might just be exhausted after all the anxiety at the appointment. She definitely isn't limping any less. But we have another appointment next week, and we shall see how it goes.
3 Comments
There was a famous sociological study at a Westinghouse factory in the 1960s which seemed to indicate that just being studied made workers' mood improve, including their self-reporting of work conditions, etc. The study was sophisticated enough that it is unlikely that it was just that the workers were censoring themselves; it seems that just knowing they were being studied made them feel better.
I often suspect there's a lot of that in the placebo effect, and that part of the placebo effect would not be impossible in animals.
That said, as we discussed when you were here, I have no trouble believing that there are geniune physilogical benefits from accupunture, and I'm hoping 13 gets all of them.
(I hope she doesn't mind me calling her by the more informal "13"--I feel I've known her long enough to warrant that familiarity....)
Well, I've read acupuncture works on rabbits, too, and somehow I can't see rabits getting any benefit from the placebo effect.
I hope it will help Thirteen feel better!
Kevin, I remember that study and I see your point. Though it seems to me that Thirteen wouldn't get the benefit of happiness about someone caring enough to pay attention to her, because she's always so frightened and stressed out at the vet's office. If the acupuncture were being done someplace really fun, like a park, then I could see there being a placebo effect where just spending the same amount of time with her in the park, without the treatment, would also improve her mood & activity level.
In any case, she does seem more mobile this morning, but it's a slight change & might just be wishful thinking on my part. (Sort of a placebo by proxy I guess.) I will wait and hope for clearer results next week.