Veterinary Chiropractic
Chiropractic is a proven method to help maintain normal alignment
and motion of the spinal vertebrae and joints in the body.
The brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system. From
the spinal cord, spinal nerves radiate and branch to every organ and
muscle in the body.
Vertebrae make up the spinal column that protects and channels the
spinal cord. If this bony housing of the cord is not healthy, or if
it does not have normal alignment and motion, then the nerves
radiating into the body will be affected.
These "misalignments" can be very slight and subtle. They may cause
the animal to feel pain, discomfort, or even tingling or weaken the
musculature.
By maintaining the proper alignment and motion between the vertebrae
and all of the joints in the body, chiropractic care can correct and
help to prevent these secondary problems.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a part of
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that has been used for over 3000
years. Very fine needles are inserted into specific points on the
body. Most animals do not seem to even feel the needles.
In TCM, the belief is
that the body’s energy, Chi, moves through channels called
meridians. When there is disease or pain, the energy is out of
balance. Through the stimulation of the prescribed points along the
meridians, acupuncture can bring the body back into balance to help
it heal.
Western medicine has spent a lot of money and time to understand exactly how acupuncture
works. The NIH (National Institutes of Health) have a special
office just for studying alternative and complementary medicines
such as acupuncture and chiropractic. What they seem to know is
that it does work. What they are still working on is how. They
have found that many of the acupuncture points are over major nerve
bundles and that with the stimulation of those points, there are
very important neurochemicals that are released such as endorphins
(to control pain) as well as some hormones and cortisol. They have
also found that the stimulation of the points can increase blood
flow, relieve muscle spasm and stimulate weakened nerves.
Dr. Orenbuch uses several forms of
acupuncture in her practice:
Laser Treatment
Laser is an acronym for Light Amplification Stimulated Emission
Radiation. We have all seen lasers and use them in our daily life.
Physical therapists in Canada and England have been using cold lasers for
years (hot lasers are used in surgery to cut skin and reduce
bleeding). It has only been in the past 2-3 years that we, in the
US have seen the light, so to speak. Light is energy and energy is
what is needed to heal tissue. It is the same principle that is
used for Ultrasound when the PT uses that after a muscle or tendon
injury. With ultrasound, the form of energy is sound, with a laser,
it is light. The light penetrates the tissues, raises the action
potential of the cells and gets them working to heal themselves. It
is painless and it is effective.
Dr. Orenbuch has been using her laser to not only stimulate acupuncture
points, but also to help heal muscle and tendon sprains and strains
as well as wounds. It cuts the healing time tremendously for all of
these. It can also be used to heal bone and treat arthritis because
it does not heat the tissue unlike ultrasound, which can damage the
lining of the bone.
Many sports teams now have a laser as part of their regular treatments
post-injury. Similarly, Dr. Orenbuch utilizes her laser for the
many sports injuries she sees in competition dogs.
Lectures about veterinary chiropractic to dog clubs and other organizations
Dr. Orenbuch is available for lectures about chiropractic, acupuncture and/or
canine rehab. Please contact her directly for more information
about speaking to your organization.
