Neural Therapy For Dogs
There are many “unconventional” treatments for pets. Bach flowers, homeopathy, aromatherapy, herbal medicine… so neuronal therapy is also one of those treatments. Would you like to know what this is about? In this article, we’re going to talk about that.
What is neural therapy?
This type of non-traditional medical practice consists of injecting an anesthetic in low concentrations into certain areas of the animal’s body. The goal of neural therapy is to restore the electrical potentials in the patient’s cell membrane, which have changed due to a specific pathology.
Authors: Christine and David Schmitt
This type of treatment is popular in several countries: Germany, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Mexico and Spain. But the idea came about thanks to a Russian doctor named Ivan Petrov, in the year 1800. However, the neural technique was developed in depth by the German doctors Ferdinand and Walter Huneke. In 1925, they injected her sister with procaine, who was suffering from headaches.
Later, the advantages of “segmental” therapy for various diseases were discovered. Thanks to these applications, it was possible to treat many diseases in humans. Now, for a few years, there have been veterinarians who do this on animals.
How does neural therapy for dogs work?
Not only dogs benefit from this technique, but also other mammals such as cats, horses, cows, etc. Neural therapy strengthens the nervous system and treats different diseases in a respectful and non-invasive way.
An anesthetic substance called procaine is applied at a dose of 0.7% at different “points”. They are chosen after a thorough study of the animal. Neural therapy may turn out to be effective in dogs suffering from certain illnesses.
In order to understand how it works, we must imagine a pet’s body as a large network of nerve connections that “pulse” when they connect with each other. In the case of a pathology or pain, an area of the circuit is damaged and needs to be healed.
For example, if the animal has had an accident or surgery, the specific location of the wound or scar may be causing pain in other areas. The application of the anesthetic is done at this specific point.
At the consultation, some dogs react better than others to this treatment. It all depends on where the injection is to take place. Other factors also influence, such as whether the animal is more nervous or calmer, its age, the type of disease it suffers, etc.
Some veterinarians inject procaine superficially and close to the painful area. Others choose to apply it directly to the wound and to deeper points. The therapies are usually done at home, every 1, 2 or 3 weeks, as appropriate.
Other Details of Neural Therapy for Dogs
The main advantages of neural therapy are: quick sessions (the first is longer because the exact injection point must be found), low stress level (because the animal is not examined for a long time) and the ability to be applied in pets of all ages.
This type of technique is recommended in case conventional treatments are not able to offer satisfactory results. In addition, it is advisable for older or adult dogs that have already undergone other, more invasive methods. And it can be useful in cases of terminal illness, when owners just want their pet to be pain free.
Neural therapy is used, in most cases, for muscle, joint and neurological pain, as well as for hip dysplasia or after surgery. Some veterinarians recommend it for respiratory problems, anxiety, depression and skin infections.
Although it is not the solution for our pet’s pain, at least this technique can be a complement to a more intensive treatment, or for our friend to feel better and not experience certain pains.
