Acupuncture

With 10 needles sticking out of her hide, Mary Bo Quoit looked more like a Chia pet than a racehorse. And her acupuncture treatment had just begun.Poking here, prodding there, the veterinarian slipped another batch of 3-inch quills into the filly's flesh, from neck to rump. Now there were 20 razor-sharp needles protruding from her coat. Not that the horse seemed to mind. Her back resembled a slalom run, but Mary Bo Quoit stood still in her stall at the Bowie Racing Center, languidly scrunching hay.Whew.

The 135th annual convention of the American Veterinary Medical Association might sound about as thrilling as a four-day symposium on proper crochet techniques.But at the margins of this gathering, which has brought more than 6,000 vets and product exhibitors from across the country to the Baltimore Convention Center this week, there are flecks of charm that betray just how deep -- and seemingly bizarre -- the American love affair with pets has become.Displays for self-cleaning litter boxes and the world's simplest tick remover.

Noah stands relaxed on a faux sheepskin rug as Dr. Cynthia Dahle inserts 20 wispy needles through the thick black fur around his neck, along his back and chest and on his rear paws.His ears droop, then his eyelids. Finally, the 11-year-old border collie gives in to endorphins released by the acupuncture needles bristling from his hide. He curls up on the rug and dozes while Dahle and his owner, Ilene Caroom of Annapolis, discuss a procedure helping Noah to live a comfortable old age.Veterinary acupuncture has been practiced in the United States for about 15 years, but has recently begun flirting with mainstream status.

A strange smell, neither sour nor sweet, permeates the humble office above Field's Pharmacy in Pikesville where Dr. Yu Chen practices Traditional Chinese Medicine. Bottles and boxes of plants imported from China line the shelves of one wall. In a small examination room, an acupuncture patient waits.The patient had struggled for each breath when he first came to Chen in early November. Two needles in his scalp and an herbal tea twice daily returned energy to his lungs. Now 10 days later, the pneumonia is gone.

A legislative debate in Annapolis over acupuncture treatments for animals has turned into a dogfight.Veterinarians want to prohibit acupuncturists from working on animals unless they are approved by the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners. But acupuncturists say they don't need veterinary training to work on animals because they are in ** the business of healing -- not diagnosis.Supporters and opponents of the bill -- which would prohibit a person licensed or otherwise authorized to practice a health occupation from practicing that health occupation on animals unless authorized to do so by the veterinary board -- aired their views at a hearing before the Environmental Matters Committee last week.

A Timonium man already accused of practicing acupuncture without a license was charged Monday with mistreating another patient, a day before he was released from jail in the previous case.Neil Garland, 42, of the 400 block of W. Timonium Road had his license suspended in July by the Maryland State Acupuncture Board after allegedly mistreating an unidentified cancer patient.Garland was accused of pressuring the man to abandon other treatment, restraining him, burning him with herbs and making him sit in his own waste.

A highly praised acupuncture treatment program for drug-addicted women inmates at the Baltimore City Detention Center ended last week, amid state concerns over its effectiveness.The decision not to renew the contract for Johns Hopkins Hospital to run the program was surprising, especially considering how state officials had praised the nationally known venture.Just a year ago, officials called the first acupuncture treatment program behind bars in the nation a key step in helping incarcerated addicts quit drugs.

TIMONIUM -- A Timonium man has been arrested and charged with practicing acupuncture after his license was revoked by the state.Neil Garland, 42, whose address was not released by police last night, was arrested yesterday afternoon and charged with practicing acupuncture without a valid state license. His license had been suspended July 1 by the Maryland State Acupuncture Board on charges that he abused a 71-year-old cancer patient.The Maryland attorney general's office said Garland is accused of subjecting the man to 14 hours of physical and psychological torment in June in a session that involved physical restraint, forced feeding and the improper use of needles and "moxibustion," or the burning of herbs on the skin, that left the man burned and scarred.

Nine years ago, Debra M. Doricchi was bedridden with chronic fatigue syndrome.Now, Doricchi is up and about and running the county's first shiatsu clinic out of her home on Clarence Avenue in Severna Park.Shiatsu, which means "finger pressure" in Japanese, is a massage therapy that is derived from the ancient healing art of acupuncture and a traditional form of Japanese massage called anma.Doricchi, 43, credits massage therapy and other alternative health-care practices such as acupuncture and chiropractic treatment with helping her recover.

Look in the treatment room of the Penn-North Neighborhood Center on any weekday morning or evening, and you'll probably see people with about five, inch-long needles sticking in each ear.They have chosen acupuncture -- the relatively painless, ancient Chinese art of healing -- to kick heroin and cocaine addictions.Of the 400 people treated in the privately funded program's first year, ending in April, 200 are now drug-free and leading productive lives, the center says. That is a success rate that program administrators say may be higher than that of traditional outpatient drug-treatment programs.