Physiotherapy and Hydrotherapy For Animals

Physiological rehabilitation focuses on the treatment of injury or chronic arthritis/disease to decrease pain and restore function. Rehabilitation is a very important part of the healing process. Every patient is treated as an individual and will be given a therapy plan that offers the best opportunity for a successful outcome. Multimodal management looks at the entire animal and not just one area. Therapies are used to strengthen muscle and prevent atrophy, decrease edema/swelling and improve range of motion.

A physical examination, veterinarians history and a series of additional measurements are taken to assess for muscle atrophy and range of motion as well as quality of movement. An evaluation is done to determine where and when problems exist: atrophy, weakness, decreased range of motion, instability, and difficulty in performing activities of daily living such as getting up and down, climbing and descending stairs, and pain. A treatment program is individualized based on each pet’s needs.

Physical evaluation:

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  Measuring PROM (passive range of motion)
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  Assessing neurological reflexes
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  Assesing CP (Assesing CP (conscious proprioception)
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  Measuring abdominal circumference

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A pet’s quality of life may be compromised by chronic disease or arthritis, injury or postoperative pain. Quality of life is improved by helping pet’s gain better mobility and deal with pain and the debilitating effects of disuse such as atrophy. Rehabilitation speeds recovery time after surgery or injury. Pain management is paramount and may include joint supplements, medication for pain management, management of inflammation and incorporation of other modalities such as Photizo light, therapeutic ultrasound, acupuncture, NMES. Hydrotherapy including controlled swimming allows for comfortable exercise in the weightless environment of a pool. A home exercise program is then designed to achieve optimal healing and fitness.

Physiotherapy and Hydrotherapy can be used for:

Arthritis	Cardiovascular conditioning	Cartilage problems	Degenerative myelopathy (DM)	Depression
Elbow dysplasia	Fibrocartilagenous Emboli (FCE)	Hip dysplasia	Hyperactivity	Ligament damage or rupture
Legg Calve Perthes disease	Muscular disorders	Muscle atrophy	Nervous system disorders	Orthopaedic injuries
Osteoarthritis	Osteo Chondroitan Dissecans (OCD)	Obesity and weight loss	Paralysis	Post-surgical recovery
Spinal injuries and disease	Skeletal disorders	Soft tissue injuries	Spondylosis	Neurological issues

The benefits of Physiotherapy and Hydrotherapy include:

Cardiovascular fitness	Improved circulation	Improved physical fitness	Minimizing pain	Improved psychological well-being
Reduced anxiety and stress	Reduction in swelling, stiffness	Relief from pain	Weight loss	Increased fitness, stamina & muscle tone
Increased mobility of joints	Increased range of motion	Non weight bearing exercise	Nervous system improved	Assisting in recovering orthopaedic injuries
Osteoarthritis	Osteo Chondroitan Dissecans (OCD)	Reduced inflammation	Reduction in muscle tension	Strengthening of muscles

Modalities used:

Many of the following modalities will be used during treatment: The treatment plan and modalities used will be discussed and the treatment is individually tailored for each animal.

Massage:

Massage is the manipulation of the soft tissues of the body. Massage is the systematic, therapeutic application of mobilisation techniques with the specific goals of relaxation, enhanced circulation, stimulation of drainage, and the release of muscle related problems such as trigger points and spasm.

If massage therapy is used in conjunction with passive stretching, it contributes to the overall function of the body. Muscle spasms are often protecting a deeper problem and it is essential to be able to differentiate the different types of soft tissue injuries. Massage goes a long way to relax stressed and painful animals.

Enhances muscle tone and pressure receptors	Decreases recuperation time	Helps prevent muscle injuries	Improves circulation of blood and lymph	Improves oxygenation of tissues
Increases metabolism	Improves range of movement	Improves gait quality and performance	Maintains strength and flexibility	Reduces fibrous tissue adhesions
Relieves muscle spasm and stress	Stimulates elimination of waste and toxins	Stimulates endorphin release	Pain control	Increased relaxation

Therapeutic Ultrasound:

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Therapeutic ultrasound warms the tissues and improves tissue flexibility. It is used in tendon and ligament injury. Therapeutic ultrasound creates mechanical vibrations (sound waves) which result in heating of deeper tissues to aid healing.

 

 

 

 

Reduces pain	Reduces muscle spasms	Increases healing rate	Increases elasticity of tissues	Breaks up scar tissue
Increases blood supply	Decreases stiffness	Reduces inflammation	Enables faster healing	Relaxation

Hydrotherapy:

Water has amazing healing properties. Pets are able to move and strengthen in the weightless environment that water provides. The buoyancy of water allows for post-surgical and painful joints to function in an environment that decreases impact. Increased range of motion in water is made possible by the weightless environment of water and its ability to help joints move more freely.

It is also a fabulous form of cardiovascular conditioning and a great way to build muscle and reverse atrophy.

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Decreases pain	Mobilises joints	Decreases inflammation	Releases endorphins	Relaxes muscle
Improves circulation	Relaxes muscle spasms	Decreases oedema (swelling)	Increases range of movement	Non weight bearing exercise
Increases metabolism	Support for weak dogs	Reduces of frustration	Increases muscle strength	Improves muscle patterning
Improves muscle tone	Improves muscle recruitment	Weight loss	Reduces lameness	Improves cardiovascular fitness
Earlier return to normal activities	Slows symptoms of degenerative diseases	Improves quality of life	Improves fitness	Assists in muscle building

Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) and Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS):

Electrical stimulation is used to cause a muscle to contract that is unable to function after injury or spinal surgery.

NMES stimulates the nerves that cause the muscles to contract, and is used to rehabilitate muscles. It is particularly useful in patients with oedema, delayed wound healing, or in those unable to perform voluntary movement. NMES passively exercises muscles.

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is used primarily to manage and decreases pain. TENS works by stimulating faster sensory nerves with an electrical impulse, causing an overload of interneurons, which limits the ability of sensory nerves to transmit pain signals to the brain, creating analgesia for the patient.

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Wound healing	Decreases pain	Reduces inflammation	Re-educates muscle	Reverses atrophy
Strengthen muscles	Increases neurological co-ordination	Aids in normal muscle contraction	Increases mobility	Decreases oedema

Thermotherapy and Cryotherapy:
Heat and/or cold may be used to decrease edema and pain.

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Cryotherapy (Cold Therapy) Benefits:

Decreases swelling	Reduces inflammation	Decreases pain	Decreases blood flow	Decreases fever

Thermotherapy (Heat Therapy) Benefits:

Increases tissue elasticity	Increases blood flow	Reduces pain	Increases tissue healing	Increases muscle contractility

Photizo light therapy:
Activates cellular metabolism to increase rate of healing, decrease inflammation and pain. Also works very well for wound healing.

Photizo Light Therapy works by energizing compromised cells and increasing blood flow using LED light of a highly beneficial wavelength. In this way, the process of cell death is reversed, leading to quicker healing and recovery following injury. Go to the product page to find out more about this modality.

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  Arthritic joints
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  Wounds
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  Elbow dysplasia
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  Neck surgery

 

Decreases pain	Stimulates cell repair	Reduce swelling	Stimulates the immune system	Stimulates healing
Strengthen muscles	Reduces muscle spasms	Increases the blood and lymph function	Relaxation	Reduces inflammation

Therapeutic exercises:

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  Working on the peanut ball

Range of motion (ROM) and stretching exercises are very important to achieve improved motion of the joints after surgery or in patients afflicted with chronic conditions. These exercises are also important to help increase flexibility, prevent adhesions between soft tissues and bones, remodel periarticular fibrosis, and improve muscle and other soft tissue extensibility and to help prevent further injuries to joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. The full motion that a joint may be moved through is termed the ROM. ROM is commonly measured with a goniometer and each joint has characteristic angles, such as flexion, extension, abduction and adduction.

Passive ROM is motion of a joint that is performed without muscle contraction within the available ROM, using an external force to move the joint. Additional pressure at the end of the available ROM is stretching. Both passive ROM and stretching can be performed in conjunction with each other to help maintain and improve joint ROM.

Active ROM is the motion of a joint that may be achieved by active muscle contraction. In addition to increasing strength, coordination between the muscle groups is necessary because the guidance of assisting the patient through ROM is no longer provided. The active ROM may be performed during a regular gait cycle, in which the excursion of joint motion is relatively limited, or under special conditions designed to expand motion and more completely use the full available ROM. Examples of these activities include swimming, walking on an underwater treadmill, a kind of treadmill climbing stairs, crawling through a tunnel to negotiating cavaletti rails.

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  Moving through the passive range of motion

Stretching techniques are often performed in conjunction with ROM exercises to improve flexibility of the joints and extensibility of periarticular tissues, muscles, and tendons. Conditions that results in adaptive shortening of tissues, including immobilization, reduced mobility, injury and fibrosis of periarticular tissues, or neurological conditions, may respond favourably to stretching.

Therapeutic exercise is perhaps one of the most valuable modalities used in animal physiotherapy. Some of the common goals of therapeutic exercise are to improve active pain-free ROM, muscle mass and muscle strength, balance, performance with daily function, and aerobic capacity, to help prevent further injury, and to reduce weight and lameness.

Proprioceptive training occurs when an animal is able to stand independently and safely, activities to improve balance may then begin. Dynamic balance is the animal’s ability to maintain balance while the body is moving, such as while walking.

The following activities may be performed to initiate active assisted exercises and to challenge the animal’s dynamic balance: weight-shifting, manually unloading one of the limbs, balance board, exercise balls, rolls and trampolines. Other common activities include stair climbing, standing exercises, controlled leash activities with a harness, dancing, pulling or carrying weights, walking across cavaletti rails and balance board activity.

Increases awareness of limb position	Encourages weight shifting	Increases co-ordination	Increases stride length	Challenges balance
Increases muscle tone	Assists with weight bearing	Increases muscle endurance	Improves range of motion	Increases muscle strength
Improves limb motion	Increases flexibility	Improves reflexes	Stimulates nomal gait

Acupuncture:

Acupuncture therapy is used to treat a magnitude of conditions. It is best known for treatment of pain and spasm. It is often as effective as prescription medications without the side effects. Acupuncture will stimulate blood flow and promote healing of damaged tissues. It also stimulates the release of the body’s own natural pain mediators. It inhibits nerves that are responsible for chronic pain.

Acupuncture has long been used before and after surgery for pain relief and to hasten healing and return to function. Acupuncture treatments are a wonderful way to increase overall sense of wellbeing in older animals and animals with chronic diseases.