10/12/2023
My girl Abigail Borel said it best ๐ซถ๐ป
If your looking for a talented CESMT in PA, give her a call!
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐พ๐ฎ๐๐ก๐ & ๐พ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ...
When an injury or some other form of pain occurs, if left untreated it starts a loop of negative factors, the main being compensation.
๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป: "physical suffering or discomfort caused by illness or injury"
โผ๏ธ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: "the process of concealing or offsetting illness or injury by developing in another direction; using the body in a different & improper way"
Pain is a trauma to an area causing the start of the pain cycle. This could be as simple as tripping, falling, environmental factors, or a more obvious injury.
When this happens the brain focuses on the pain. It then tells the nervous system to make changes to avoid it. ๐ง
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ. ๐ฝ๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฌ?โฌ๏ธ
Pain automatically triggers muscular tension.
When a muscle or group of muscles create tension, the body adapts. This tension creates restriction, causing decreased ROM through a joint. This keeps that joint from moving freely, regardless of the horse's strength.
Decreased circulation & Inflammation occurs.๐ฅ Inflammation is the bodyโs natural way of alerting the immune system that there is a problem and we gotta fix it, however, too much inflammation in an area is NOT beneficial.
The body begins to guard the area by restricting movement and/or making muscles spasm. This can continue even after the immune system has been called to action and the damage has been repaired.
Compensation starts to occur. The nervous system has kicked in and told the brain โI got this, we can avoid that painโ. Compensation patterns turn into imbalances throughout the body and also changes in the brain.
Horses then develop an avoidance posture & overtime more body parts get recruited to compensate for any unresolved pain.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐บ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต: The brain has already been told that compensating is OK and the body has adjusted to do so. We not only need to help with the compensatory pain but the brain needs to relearn that it can DO those things.
๐๐ค, ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ค ๐ ๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐?
๐ Have your horse evaluated by a qualified vet, bodyworker, and chiro. This gives you a good idea where your horse is at physically.
๐ KNOW YOUR HORSE. Once you have an idea what is their "normal", watch them. Be able to identify when they are "off", feel different on the ground & under saddle, etc.
๐ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ช๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ถ๐ต ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ issues stem from but are not limited to: Hoof issues, Back/spinal dysfunction, Improper riding, Front/Hind end dysfunction, Dental Issues, Wounds & Scars, Environment (tack, living conditions, maintenance, etc.)
๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฃ & ๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ?
Start with using heat or ice if the initial injury & situation requires it. Heat = blood flow increase๐ฅ Ice = decrease blood flow where inflamed ๐ง
โจ Therapies: Massage techniques, Red Light, PEMF, Kinesiology Tape, acupuncture, etc. all have positive effects on the body to help limit pain and start communicating with the nervous system. ๐๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ท๐ฆ.
๐ช After the pain is addressed, active exercises & stretches (performed properly & consistently) are going to help โretrainโ the brain.๐ง This will help with restoration of the bodyโs functions by putting it in motion.
๐ช๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐: breaking the horse's cycle of pain, using the body correctly, and working at the TOP of their performance level. This can take TIME, so be prepared to be patient with your equine partner ๐ค
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โจ ๐ด๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐ข๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐ โ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐? ๐๐๐๐ก ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ก ๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐? ๐๐๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐๐ก๐๐ญ! โจ
