09/06/2025
New Treatment for Headshaking: Electroacupuncture 🐴✨
Today, Beth and Nicky had the pleasure of working alongside the brilliant Dr. Sue Devereux to learn how to perform Electroacupuncture – an exciting and promising treatment option for equine headshaking, specifically trigeminal nerve-mediated headshaking (TMHS).
TMHS causes involuntary and often distressing head flicking and shaking in horses. Electroacupuncture offers a valuable management tool to help alleviate pain and reduce nerve sensitivity, allowing affected horses to remain comfortable and continue in work.
✨ How it works:
The treatment involves stimulating the trigeminal nerve with a combination of acupuncture needles and electric current to help modulate pain perception.
📊 Encouraging results:
In a study Dr. Devereux was involved in (RVC), nearly two-thirds of the 42 horses treated with electroacupuncture showed improvement – a promising outcome for such a challenging condition.
✅ Key benefits:
• Targets pain associated with TMHS
• Shown to improve quality of life in many horses
• Generally well-tolerated and can be performed in the yard
• A useful tool in ongoing management – though not a cure
We’re excited to bring this knowledge to our practice and offer another supportive treatment option to help horses live and work more comfortably.
