Cher is a 14 year old spayed female Corgi Shepherd Mix that came to me for arthritis and a cantaloupe sized mass inside her right rear leg. The mass made it even more difficult for her to walk.

Cher has a Wood constitution and would get grumpy with needle placement at first. Her Woody personality predisposed her to Liver Qi stagnation which causes a TCVM condition where the Liver overacts on or insults the Spleen causing dampness in the body. Dampness can settle in the joints and cause Damp Bi or arthritis. The lump she has is Dampness that has stagnated and turned to Phlegm.

Cher received acupuncture and was placed on Chinese herbs to dry Dampness, stimulate her immune system, tonify and move Qi and Blood to resolve pain, and transform Phlegm. I also incorporated a protocol developed by Dr. Are Thoresen, that uses the Five Elements theory, and I needle the control point of the meridian where the mass is located to shrink the growth.

After 2 treatments, Cher had more energy, was running, and getting on and off the bed. The mass inside her right rear leg started changing dramatically. At first, it became softer. Then, it lost the attachment to the muscle and drooped down the inside of her leg. It started separating into several lumps, and after that, got progressively smaller. The mass shrunk down to a size where Cher has no difficulty walking now.

Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM) is, in essence, applied Chinese Philosophy. It looks for highly relevant details in a patient’s history and physical examination that are overlooked by conventional veterinarians such as their personality, environment, diet, temperature preferences, and tongue and pulse qualities. These metaphoric observations tell a story about the patient’s pattern of imbalance, and then acupuncture, Chinese herbs, food therapy and even Tui Na (Chinese massage) are done, with great success, to restore health.