Acupuncture Therapy for Back Pain in Horses

The treatment of equine back pain (EBP) is very challenging and often not very successful. The relatively low efficacy of current treatment regimens for EBP is mainly associated with nonspecific and multifactorial causes of the condition. This has concerned the equine industry, leading equine practitioners and horse owners to seek alternative and traditional cures to treat the condition. One of the alternative therapies is acupuncture, a technique rarely used on horses with back pain. Although acupuncture is still a controversial technique among veterinarians, equine practitioners are now exploring the method to treat disease conditions in their horses. There is no doubt that acupuncture alone or as an adjunct therapy to modern medicine has significantly improved the recovery rate of equine back pain. This review looks at the use of acupuncture in the treatment of EBP. Various available acupuncture techniques and their mechanisms of action are discussed.