Nina Malik, of East Meadow, is an allopathic veterinarian who holistically treats small animals, using both Eastern and Western medical disciplines to provide what she feels is the best care for your pet.
It was Nina’s past experience as a vet at an emergency critical-care facility in Philadelphia that inspired her current perspective. “I saw about 20 cases a day,” she recalls. “We were putting so many dogs down. A lot of them were arthritic or geriatric cases and there was nothing more I could do for these animals [with Western medicine]. I got frustrated and said there had to be other tools in my tool box.”
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Nina’s career and personal paths crossed in her quest for an alternative solution to her own physical problems when she was suffering with chronic ankle pain and began acupuncture treatment. She became interested in exploring the use of acupuncture on small animals and, with the knowledge that it’s been used with great success for years on horses, she felt that it was a viable treatment for companion animals. “It’s just common sense,” Nina says.
Her goal is to bridge the connection between Western therapies and the ancient healing art of acupuncture, changing small-animal veterinary medicine through integrated disciplines. “I’m unique,” says Nina. “I do pure acupuncture. I don’t use herbs; they’re not regulated and can have side effects if you mix them with some Western medications.”
Nina’s office is located in Bohemia, at Atlantic Coast, a 24-hour emergency and specialty care veterinary hospital. Her acupuncture room is equipped to relax her patients using the scent of lavender, the soothing sounds of running water and low light. “Normal [Western] veterinarians prescribe steroids and rest [after surgery],” Nina explains. “For me, the gold standard is surgery and then acupuncture.” And how do animals react to these treatments? Nina says, “For most, by the third or fourth visit they are so relaxed sometimes they snore through the session.” Indeed, when Nina played a video of one of her patients, you could see how anxious the dog was before treatment and the serenity it was feeling during the acupuncture session. “It [acupuncture] makes them comfortable,” Nina says, “I’ve gotten really good response rates.”
Acupuncture is helpful with degenerative diseases and is one of the safest therapies available, Nina says. “Dogs can lose control of their hind legs. It’s a horrific disease and Western medicine has nothing for it.” She went on to describe other disorders for which Eastern medicine can help alleviate symptoms using acupuncture, including arthritis, neurological disease, gastrointestinal and skin disorders, bladder control, anxiety and pain control. Accupuncture has also been helpful with alleviating some of the side effects of chemotherapy. Nina also uses electroacupuncture (passing a small current through needles), acupressure (pressure applied to acupuncture points), aquapuncture (injecting solutions into acupuncture points) and moxibustion (warming acupuncture points). These therapies seem to help with the animal’s quality of life as well as their comfort, Nina says.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m doing pioneer work,” Nina says. “I help [pet owners] to take the leap. How can we have companion animals and not try to help them? In Western medicine sometimes there’s no place to go; with Eastern there’s hope.”
To contact Dr. Malik or for more information call (631) 285-7780 or go to www.atlanticcoastvet.com
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