Ion transfer as a co-adjuvant to acupuncture for treatment of inflammatory injuries in horses

Abstract

Equine spinal lesions are a common occurrence. These lesions are often caused by excessive use of certain spinal regions resulting in tissue injury that releases K+, Na+, and Ca++ ions, in addition to allogenic substances that are present during inflammation. Several therapies are available for treating spinal lesions, including acupuncture which has been highlighted as a safe and positive technique. Of the techniques developed in Japan, ionic pumping may be a suitable co-adjuvant to the dry needling technique, offering the benefit of being less invasive. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the action of dry acupuncture and ionic pumping by diode wire in horses with vertebral column inflammation. Twenty-three sports horses with inflammatory changes in the thoracic spine region were evaluated. This study confirmed that both the ionic pumping technique by diode wire as well as dry needling were adequate in regulating the homeostasis of the studied region. After one week of dry acupuncture (p=0.0006) and ionic pumping, the local temperature of the injury reduced significantly, allowing the inflammatory state to subside from moderate to mild to absent (p=0.001).