What is Biopuncture?
Biopuncture is a therapy whereby specific locations are injected with biological products. The majority of the products are derived from plants. Most of these injections are given to the skin or into muscles.
What kinds of products are being injected?
Generally speaking, we frequently use the following injectable products: Traumeel, Zeel, Platelet Rich Plasma(PRP), and a variety of botanicals.
Are these products safe for my pet?
Absolutely! Depending on the medicine, the amount of active ingredients is less than the amount used in conventional medicine yet more than the amount used in homeopathy. As a result, toxic side effects are very unlikely. Additionally, the ampules used in Biopuncture are manufactured by companies that guarantee the production quality of their products. Most of the ampules used for injection are made in Germany and are held to very strict quality control regulations. Clinical studies on thousands of patients have confirmed the safety of ampules such as Traumeel.
How can these dilutions actually have an effect on the body?
The fact that most ampules only contain low concentrations of plant extracts is often a reason for conventional veterinarians to criticize the effects of these products. But it is important to know that the products used in Biopuncture are not diluted as much as in “real” homeopathy. That’s why we call them ultra-low doses!
How can such a small dose influence your pet’s body and stimulate healing? Scientists don’t have the final proof yet, but they postulate that these injections are working through the stimulation of the immune system (which is in fact your defense system). Let’s compare it with a vaccination! When dogs receive a Parvo vaccination, only small amounts of a particular product are necessary to stimulate the immune system against the disease. In other words, just a few injections can protect your body for years. Biopuncture injections are not real vaccinations of course, but the idea of the mechanism of action is similar: small doses of the right product can have an important effect on the defense systems of your body. And that effect can last for months or years. And Biopuncture produces its clinical effects because it stimulates your immune system to restart its innate healing capacities.
Has it been proven that Biopuncture works by stimulating the immune system?
Biopuncturists have observed the effects of these injections for decades. But the problem was to convince other veterinarians how it really worked. Recent research on Biopuncture has given new insight into how these products seem to do the job. For example, scientific investigation has illustrated that Traumeel indeed works via the immune system. In June 2004, an article was published in an important medical journal, Clinical & Developmental Immunology, which is a highly respected journal in conventional medicine. Veterinarians are surprised to hear that the mechanisms of action of Traumeel include both inhibition of IL-1ß and inhibition of TNF-alpha secretion.
But how does Biopuncture work to help my pet with pain or inflammation?
In conventional medicine, the drug given suppresses the symptoms immediately. That is why high doses of chemical substances are needed in order to suppress, for example, pain or inflammation. Usually, it works immediately. But as soon as the medication stops working, you have to give another pill to “kill the pain” again.
However, in Biopuncture small doses of medicines are injected in order to stimulate the natural healing processes. These ultra-low doses “wake up” mechanisms which are available anyway. So, the healing effect comes from “inside” the body — not from the products themselves. It’s the reaction of the immune system which produces the proper reactions to regain natural healing. The reaction of your pet’s body may be, for example, better local blood circulation, tissue repair, relaxation of muscles, or local detoxification. During the reparation of tissue, your pet is even more vulnerable and it is a good idea at this stage not to overuse the part which is treated because it is still in the process of repair.
Will Biopuncture help my pet as quickly as conventional therapies?
It’s obvious that injections of such tiny doses are less powerful than, for example, cortisone injections. The dose used is too small to suppress the inflammation immediately. But that’s not the goal of Biopuncture! We consider inflammation to be an important element of true and lasting healing. The goal of Biopuncture is to support the natural inflammatory processes in order to achieve complete and natural healing of the injured tissues. So, we do exactly the opposite of conventional drugs. The pain may even get worse the next day (“reaction phase”). Sometimes the pain may shift to other areas because the body is adapting to the new situation (“adaptation phase”). Biopuncturists regard these phases as positive. As a result, the symptomatic relief may take a while, especially when the problem has been there for months or years. However, when dealing with fresh injuries, these injections can give results very quickly.
Where are these injections given?
Most of them are given into or just under the skin, others are given into specific acupuncture points or into your ligaments (= bands that hold bones together). The injections are not given arbitrarily but are administered in carefully chosen spots. The places of injection are as important as the product itself. It’s different for each patient!
I’ve heard that things can get worse immediately after the first treatment.
Yes, that’s right. Especially the day after the injection, your pet may feel worse, experiencing more pain or discomfort. This is exactly the opposite of the so-called placebo effect! This temporary worsening of complaints usually means that the healing processes are being activated. In Biopuncture this is called the “reaction phase” and it means that real healing is on its way.
