Veterinary Acupuncture and Pain Management

I qualified from the University of Bristol in 1996 and have had a varied career, working in mixed practice initially, then equine and small animals and finally progressing to 100% small animal work. I spent 4 years working with the Pet Blood Bank (PBBUK), a charity very close to my heart and in 2016 finally settled down in my home county of Lincolnshire and joined a local small animal practice. 

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It is while working here that I became aware of our ever growing population of elderly patients and those with mobility issues. Advances in veterinary medicine and surgery has meant our pets are living longer but with this comes an increased risk of developing chronic pain conditions. I felt there was more we could offer these patients. Rather than just reaching for the prescription medicines (which play an important role in pain management), I began to explore other options.

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It became apparent that many of the larger veterinary referral centres were offering pain clinics and as part of this service, acupuncture was being used. This led me to investigate the potential benefits that acupuncture could bring to my patients and being a scientist, I opted to study the Western approach which is more evidence based and guided by our knowledge of anatomy and an understanding of the neuropathophysiology of pain.

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In April 2018, I undertook the foundation course in Western Veterinary Acupuncture and later that year I went on to do further training in electroacupuncture and chronic pain management (WVAG / Longview Veterinary Services).

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I began to see pain patients on a referral basis, mainly from other vets in my practice, and the number of patients under my care has grown steadily. For this reason I decided the time was right to make the jump from general practice to set up my own pain management / acupuncture business to enable me to spend more time with my patients and clients and ensure that I can give them the very best of my care and support.