Animal Physio Plus

06/10/2021

“Physiotherapy is not only for people, it also offers essential rehabilitation and treatment for animals to improve their quality of life and, to assist in prevention and recovery from injuries.”

“Physiotherapists working with animals offer the same skills and multidisciplinary care as in human health care, helping to reduce pain, improve function and mobility and prevent recurrence of injury. The results are better outcomes for animals following surgery and neurological events, and an improved quality of life for elderly animals and those undergoing palliative treatment.”

With the launch of a new Position Statement – Animal Physiotherapy – the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) wants all animals, whether they are high performance competitors, working animals or

09/06/2021

Exercise is so important for arthritis management but can sometimes be a little tricky to get right!

🐾 Arthritis treatment on a budget 🐾

Get your exercise levels right!

We hear a lot of people say their dog wouldn't do something if it hurt - but when it comes to exercising they really will! Dogs will receive a huge rush of endorphins (happy hormones) while exercising which temporarily numb the pain.. the key here being temporarily!
Once those hormones wear off they are left with over exerted joints and muscles and consequent pain! 😢

Your dog still needs to be moving around or they will stiffen up and loose muscle mass and flexibility, making them more prone to injury. Plus we don't want them to get bored!
Just ensure avoid repetitive and high intensity activities and monitor them closely so you are aware of when they've had enough! If you see signs of slowing down, dragging their feet, stopping to sniff a lot, sitting down... then it's time to head home and adjust your exercise levels so they have shorter walks, less intense walks or more periods of rest built into the walk.

22/03/2021

14/04/2020

A great article that shows the need for shockwave therapy and physiotherapy to work together.

The results were: 3 shockwave treatments lowered back pain in horses but physiotherapy techniques are required to increase muscle strength for lasting results.

Use your lunchbreak to read our free article for today, Trager et al.'s study into "Extracorporeal shockwave therapy raises mechanical nociceptive threshold in horses with thoracolumbar pain" http://ow.ly/E37o30qbuaT

03/04/2020

An extremely interesting, informative and educational post about animal arthritis management. Canine Arthritis Management

I highly recommend anyone who owns or works with animals takes the time to watch this.

Fun Fact: we use a focussed shockwave which utilises stortz technology at Animal Physio Plus

24/01/2020

Physiotherpy is a great addition to an arthritis treatment plan!

Veterinary physio Anna Wilson has been telling us more about this important treatment option:

"It takes into account posture, muscle balance, gait and the dogs overall well being. We can address the tension, muscle wastage or restriction that occurs secondary to arthritis via controlled movement and massage.
Some treatment will promote relaxation and even produce endorphins that can give that "happy feeling" as well as pain relieving benefits.
Maintaining muscle mass and joint function, through strategically planned exercise is key and really helps to protect and support the disease joints.
Make sure to also follow advice such as adapting lifestyle, home modification and managing your pets weight to get the best form your treatment plan."

Have you tried physiotherapy with your dog?? We'd love you to share your experience and give a shout out to your amazing local physio centre!

05/07/2019

The importance of the home exercise program!!!

Frustrated that the immediate effect of your manual treatment doesn't last? In most cases, there is movement dysfunction present and no matter how much manual treatment you apply, the problems will persist.

10 year old advanced eventer Bruce, was suffering from a weakness in his left gluteal muscle group. The issue in itself was a simple muscle imbalance but the weakness was causing an asymmetrical lack of support and torque stresses to the thoracolumbar spine. Bruce was in pain and started to demonstrate performance and behavioural issues. So, what was happening here? In an attempt to stabilise the spine, his body reacted with an adaptation in the fascia and the epaxial spinal muscles were under constant tension. Bruce was suffering with deep seated spasm and stress points around the the last rib and costovertebral junctions as well as considerable back pain. To exacerbate the problem, the back pain had caused the spinal stabilisers to become inactive.

Manual treatment provided immediate relief for Bruce, but it took a programme of targeted exercise to even up the gluteal muscles, before any lasting results of treatment were seen.

By addressing underlying movement dysfunctions and muscle imbalances you will vastly improve the carry over of your manual treatment. Furthermore, uneven loading on structures will be removed, which will reduce the chance of pathology and have a long term effect on the horses comfort and performance.

We should not be addressing musculoskeletal issues with manual therapy alone. Exercise Rehabilitation is an essential part of our treatment; not an extra.

Feel free to contact me with any questions or to discuss this further, through Facebook or on my personal email: [email protected]

Best Wishes, Katie Lawrence

03/06/2019

High energy focused shock wave therapy accelerates bone healing
A blinded, prospective, randomized canine clinical trial

The results of this study support the use of shockwave as a means of accelerating acute bone healing in dogs.

Thieme E-Books & E-Journals

12/03/2019

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28/02/2019

Is your animal requiring joint injections more than twice per year? SHOCKWAVE is a great alternative!

An owner’s physician is reluctant to give her joint injections too often, but her horse receives hock injections every six months. Is that frequency cause for concern? An equine sports medicine specialist responds.

05/02/2019

MUST WATCH: A fantastic video helping you to recognise subtle lameness in your horse.

From a survey of 506 horses where the owners had not recognised any form of lameness, 46% had a subtle lameness!

Equitopia speaks with world renown lameness specialist Dr. Sue Dyson as well as other internationally acclaimed horse professionals to point out the signs of...

02/02/2019

Just like in the human patient, physiotherapy intervention for muscle injuries results in a quicker recover time and a much stronger and more functional muscle than if left to heal on its own. Physio treatment can help to ensure the muscles fibres heal in the correct alignment, reducing scar tissue and hence creating a stronger muscle that is much less likely to be reinjured in the future.

While not frequently diagnosed, muscle injuries can cause pain, lameness, and poor performance in horses.

19/12/2018

05/12/2018

“The vast majority of ligament injuries respond really well to a course of controlled exercise,” she says. “The next thing I would go to is shock wave, and the third direction I would go to is regenerative medicine.”
- Dr Carrie Schlachter -

Veterinarians share their advice for preventing lower-limb problems and rehabilitating injured horses, from therapies to back-to-work schedules.

04/11/2018

🏇 HOW LONG DOES MY HORSE NEED TO REST IN-BETWEEN TRAINING? 🏇

Apparently training every third day might be best!
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This Veterinary Study of the Week is more of a thought provoking piece of research. The aim of the study was to assess the speed a horse learns novel tasks when trained at different time intervals using negative reinforcement.
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Key findings suggest that:
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🔹If you are repeatedly training your horse to do the same task every day, you could well be spending your time more productively.
🔹 The research, by equine scientists from Germany and Australia, found that allowing horses breaks of two days between training sessions rather than training daily results in similar learning progress over a period of 28 days.
🔹 The use of a training schedule may be a useful tool in optimising training a improving effectiveness.
🔹 The RESULTS of the study suggest that horses do not forget what they have learned if they are trained every third day rather than daily. Allowing horses a break of two days between training sessions rather than training them daily not only results in similar learning progress, but is a more efficient use of the trainers’ and the horses’ time.
🔹 While training every day is not necessarily a welfare concern, it is important to remember that the type of task trained is also relevant. If the horse is taught a strenuous physical task, they will need time out between training to allow their muscles to rest and repair.
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◼️ However... would these findings have been different if POSITIVE reinforcement was used? Would the required intervals in between training be smaller? ◼️

09/08/2018

Applying shock wave therapy immediately following PRP injection into injured soft-tissue structures might help increase the concentrations of growth factors released from the platelets, researchers found.

14/05/2017

An amazing response after our Dry Needling treatment today!

Dry needling is perfect for treating muscle pain, tension and trigger points and restoring normal muscle function.