Saskia had an ongoing problem with chronic bumble foot. Bumble foot can be a serious problem in captive raptors and it is multifactorial in origin. The feet have poor perfusion (blood flow) to the skin layers, and in captivity birds spend longer times standing still on a perch than they would in the wild. If talons overgrow they can penetrate the palmar surface (underside of foot) and baterial infectiion is introduced in the foot's tissues. Occasionally a bird will make the problem worse by mutilating the bottom of its foot with its powerful beak.
Conventional treatment includes: debriding the surface, localised slow release antibiotics, immobilisation, flushing with antibiotics. Surgery, which is a drastic option often has poor success because of the slow rates of healing.
Saskia had three treatments using dry 1cm needles on BL40, the master point for legs and beak, GB34 to resolve dampness and open the energy channel, and Ba Feng the local points for the foot, after first having been lasered.