--- title: Acupuncture and Massage: Alternative Medicine for Pets description: This is what experts have to say about acupuncture, massages and chiropractors for your pets. canonical: https://time.com/4761578/alternative-medicine-pets/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-01T20:01:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:40:55.182Z article:section: Health og:title: Does Acupuncture Work for Dogs? og:description: Such as acupuncture and chiropractic care og:url: https://time.com/4761578/alternative-medicine-pets/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01cecce055d39058/6988bf32cd1bba349e704614/labrador.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Labrador Retriever Dog Smiles on Bench Outdoors og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Does Acupuncture Work for Dogs? twitter:description: Such as acupuncture and chiropractic care twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01cecce055d39058/6988bf32cd1bba349e704614/labrador.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Does Acupuncture Work for Dogs? > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Lauren Oster / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Lauren Oster / Health.com Contributor May 1, 2017 8:01 PM UTC  A yellow Labrador Retriever dog smiles as it lays on a wooden bench outdoors on a sunny day. A yellow Labrador Retriever dog smiles as it lays on a wooden bench outdoors on a sunny day. Getty Images by [Lauren Oster / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Lauren Oster / Health.com Contributor May 1, 2017 8:01 PM UTC Americans love alternative medicine: Between 30 and 40 percent of U.S. adults seek complementary treatments each year. But should we consider them for our animals, too? While these treatments may bring relief, “it has really been a problem to try to prove in scientific studies that they are therapeutically beneficial,” says Alicia Karas, an assistant professor at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, who is also a veterinary acupuncturist and an anesthesia and pain-medicine specialist. Here’s what the experts say about the following options. _Discover the_ **_best alternative to pet insurance._** _Save 25% on your vet bills!_ [_Learn more about PetHero today._](https://www.pethero.com/?utm%5Fsource=time.com&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=cmr-pet-hero&utm%5Fcontent=time-inarticle-tout-6) ### **Acupuncture** “There are very few side effects from acupuncture, so it can be used in conjunction with a number of different therapies,” says Christine Swanson of BluePearl Specialty & Emergency Pet Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, who is board-certified in veterinary oncology and trained in veterinary acupuncture and integrative medicine. Swanson has found acupuncture to be effective for chronic conditions such as arthritis, back pain, and neurological conditions. While research is promising, it’s hard to measure the success of treatment, because patients can’t describe how they’re feeling. There’s also a “caregiver placebo effect,” in which owners (and even vets) may perceive a treatment to be helping when it’s actually not. “That’s why it’s important for veterinarians to do a thorough examination to determine the effectiveness of the treatment,” says Swanson. Both Swanson and Karas emphasize that acupuncture, like other alternative therapies, can supplement but shouldn’t replace conventional diagnostic and treatment methods, such as X-rays, medication, and surgery. **MORE**: [Science Says Your Pet Is Good for Your Mental Health](http://time.com/4728315/science-says-pet-good-for-mental-health/) ### **Chiropractic** Like [chiropractors who treat humans](http://time.com/4282617/chiropractor-lower-back-pain/?iid=sr-link1), veterinary practitioners face skepticism from the mainstream medical community, since their evidence of success is overwhelmingly anecdotal—and many neurologists don’t recommend spinal manipulative therapy. Supporters argue that chiropractors can produce results when conventional diagnosis and treatment come up short. “Chiropractors can really help with older dogs,” says Karas. “They don’t just manipulate the spine; they handle the digits and the hips and do tail and jaw traction.” If you want to give this treatment a try, look for a practitioner who’s certified by the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association. **_Health.com_**_:_ [_What’s Your Pet Trying to Tell You? Here’s How to Read Their Body Language_](http://www.health.com/pets/dog-body-language/?xid=time) ### **Massage** [Massage](http://time.com/4728672/massage-low-back-pain/)—or the use of fingers, hands, and machines to manipulate soft tissues—can address pain from injuries and surgery, provide relief from inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, and help rehabilitate animals like dogs and horses that have been sidelined from sports. As with other therapies, be sure to check first with your pet’s primary care doctor. “If your veterinarian seems to not be open to it, you can say, ‘Well, I’d like to see somebody who is,’” says Karas. Bottom line, she adds: Hope should always go hand in hand with realism. “Although benefits can occur, don’t expect miracles.” _This_ [_article_](http://www.health.com/pets/alternative-medicine-for-pet/?xid=time) _originally appeared on_ [_Health.com_](http://www.health.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4761578/alternative-medicine-pets/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4761578/alternative-medicine-pets/"},"headline":"Does Acupuncture Work for Dogs?","datePublished":"2017-05-01T20:01:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:40:55.182Z","description":"Such as acupuncture and chiropractic care","url":"https://time.com/4761578/alternative-medicine-pets/","keywords":["animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01cecce055d39058/6988bf32cd1bba349e704614/labrador.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lauren Oster / Health.com"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01cecce055d39058/6988bf32cd1bba349e704614/labrador.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Labrador Retriever Dog Smiles on Bench Outdoors","caption":"Labrador Retriever Dog Smiles on Bench Outdoors","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4761578/alternative-medicine-pets/","name":"Does Acupuncture Work for Dogs?"}}]}] ```