Sarah Price
Canine Physiotherapy

How can Veterinary Physiotherapy help my dog?

We assess each dog as an individual according to it needs and past medical history.  There are many reasons why you may seek Veterinary Physiotherapy for your dog:-

  •  to maximise the athletic performance of your working dog
  • for rehabilitation following injury or surgery
  • for neurological rehabilitation following spinal injury or pathology
  • for maintenance of musculoskeletal comfort for an ageing pet
  • to limit the secondary effects of a diagnosis such as hip or elbow dysplasia

Whatever your reason, we will discuss your concerns and your aims for physiotherapy and combine this information with what is noted after gait assessment and palpation to come up with a tailor-made treatment programme.

What does treatment involve?

Assessment and treatment usually lasts 45 min to an hour.  Treatment for each dog is individual to that animal as it is based on assessment findings and past medical history.   Hands on physiotherapy i.e. non invasive manual techniques include:

  • Myofascial release
  • Joint mobilisations
  • Proprioceptive taping
  • Neurological rehabilitation

These help to restore and maintain joint range, skeletal suppleness, muscle balance and therefore to maximise performance.

In addition we offer electrotherapy which includes:-

  • LASER
  • Therapeutic Ultrasound
  • Muscle stimulation (NMES) to aid healing, reduce inflammation or strengthen muscle.

Or they may solely require a home exercise programme and advice.  This may be as basic as advice on how best to exercise  them to avoid exacerbating an injury or how frequency to walk them and over what sort of terrain following surgery or injury prior to them returning to their usual pre injury level of work or exercise.  In most circumstances each dog is given a home exercise programme for you to do at home.  This ensures that you feel involved in your animals rehabilitation, feel more confident handing them for example after spinal surgery or exercising them after a cruciate repair and maximises the results achieved.

Either contact us directly to ask if physiotherapy is appropriate and we can then approach your vet for a referral or contact your vet and ask them to refer to us.  Either way we require a veterinary referral.

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