CONCLUSIONS
Integration of AP into your practice will take time and patience. You will need to study AP well and to foster public awareness of its value and mechanisms. Explanation of AP mechanisms in terms of reflex action via the neuroendocrine system is more acceptable to academic colleagues than those based on theories of intangible, undefined Life Forces (Qi).
In your early attempts at AP, it is advisable to choose just a few conditions which interest you. Learn the approach to these in depth before you attempt to treat new conditions.
If you do not wish your clients and colleagues to know that you are attempting AP methods, you can adapt ultrasound, electrostimulation and laser therapy with little difficulty. You can also use point injection with good success. As you grow in experience, it will be better for you (and for the acceptance of AP as a valid system) if you let your clients and colleagues know that you are using the Chinese system.
Integration of AP analgesia as a routine preparation for surgery is not likely to become popular in the West. However, it may be considered in high-risk patients, shock victims and Caesarian section. The analgesia and obstetric effects of lumbosacral points in bovine dystocia and bovine prolapsed uterus require no electro-stimulation and could become routine.
A Chinese parable says: "What can a frog in a well know of the outside world?". There is a mighty universe around us! Can we see it all? Can we feel it, taste it , touch it and smell it all? Can we "weigh" (measure) the Energy of Life? I don't believe it! I believe that there are other ways of knowing reality. To grow in knowledge and skill requires study and practice. I urge you to study unorthodox as well as orthodox concepts. In particular, I urge you to read on psychic methods of diagnosis and healing and to experiment with these systems together with your orthodox methods and other therapeutic systems.
Therefore, I urge you to continue your studies, especially in areas of unorthodox concepts. Study and experiment with the area of psychic phenomena such as dowsing or divining in relation to healing. These methods are as applicable to animals as they are to humans. Some of you may possess ability in these areas. I believe that the best therapy will consist of a sound mechanical approach plus the extra benefits of the psychic approach.
REFERENCES
Further details of AP are in other lectures by the author. These and other manuscripts are based on material presented in 1980 to the teaching seminar at the Veterinary College in Helsinki, organised by Jukka Kuussaari. Most have been updated since 1990.
AP is a highly integrated system whose concepts and philosophies are strange to Westerners at first. Thus, Western students of AP should read and re-read these concepts until they become familiar with them.
The lectures, listed below, cover many traditional (classical) and modern (scientific) aspects of AP and related topics. This set of lectures will help students of AP to get the "feel" for subject. They complement lectures given at IVAS, BVAS and other organised training courses on AP.
Vet or Medical colleagues are most welcome to use this material for study or teaching purposes but the author reserves copyright and does not wish others to use this material for commercial publications. All the papers starred (*) are in one publication (Acupuncture in Animals, Proc 167, 548 pp) available from The Postgraduate Committee in Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, 280 Pitt St., Sydney South, NSW, Australia 2000. Those not starred are available from the author:
1*. A brief History of AP and the Status of veterinary AP outside mainland China
2*. Effects of AP on the Defence Systems and conditions responsive to AP (1980) and AP for immune-mediated disorders (1991).
3*. The Study of AP: Points and Channels in Animals.
4*. The Study of AP: Sources and Study Techniques.
5*. Traditional versus modern AP.
6*. Holistic Concepts of Health and Disease.
7. Psychic methods of Diagnosis and Treatment in AP and Homeopathy
8*. The Theory of the Five Phases and its uses in medicine.
9*. The Choice of Points for AP Therapy (1980) and the Choice of AP Points for Particular Conditions (1984).
10*. Techniques of stimulation of the AP Points.
11*. AP analgesia for surgery in animals.
12*. Clinical AP in the horse (2 papers + appendix).
13*. AP in Cattle and Pigs.
14. AP in Small Animal Practice.
15*. Clinical Experiences with AP: Failures and Successes.
16. Physiotherapy, Homeopathy and AP in the Treatment and Prevention of Lameness and the Maintenance of peak Fitness in Horses
17*. Advances and instrumentation in the diagnosis and treatment of trigger points in human myofascial pain: veterinary implications
18. Treatment of Back Pain in the Horse and Dog by AP
19*. Computer Applications in the Study and clinical Use of AP
20*. Serious complications of AP... or AP abuses?
21. Clinical use of low level Laser therapy.