Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation is a new and emerging field within the veterinary world, though it is well recognised as an integral part of the recovery process in human medicine and surgery.  We feel it should be integral to any recovery from illness or injury in the veterinary field too!

What to expect

Any rehabilitation programme that we put together for your animal is bespoke for them - by individually tailoring the treatment plan that they require, we can achieve the optimal outcomes for them. This programme may include any of the following treatment modalities:

  • Soft tissue mobilisations

  • Joint mobilisations

  • Physical therapy (exercises)

  • LASER therapy with a class 4 LASER (K LASER Cube 4)

  • Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES)

  • Cryotherapy

  • Acupuncture

  • Electroacupuncture

Our aim

The aim of any rehabilitation programme is to restore the best bodily function that we can and build muscle strength and flexibility to prevent further injury. Many of these patients have some degree of pain-certainly initially - and so an integral part of the rehabilitation plan that we put together for your pet will be in reducing this pain. This then allows other components of the programme to be possible and yield the best result. This pain relief may include cryotherapy, acupuncture, medication and LASER treatments.

Currently, we are able to offer rehabilitation for small animals, with an emphasis on dogs.

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Sports medicine

Canine sports medicine is a new speciality in the veterinary field. There are a vast array of 'canine athletes', from the more obvious flyball and agility dogs, to the rather more subtle therapy dogs, search and rescue dogs, and the wonderful family pets who spend many an hour chasing balls or catching frisbees for example! Dogs place heavy demands on their bodies on a daily basis, and just as we (and professional athletes even more so) visit a variety of professionals to maintain our bodies - be these osteopaths, chiropracters, physiotherapists - so should our pets. Rehabilitation goes hand in hand with sports medicine, as the latter includes conditioning, regaining and maintaining fitness.

Canine sports medicine and rehabilitation is pivotal in helping a canine athlete, or working dog, to recover from illness or injury. In addition, we also aim to prevent re-injury whilst moving the patient back to a level of fitness that is hopefully as good as, if not better, than prior to the injury or illness.

Some of the dogs that can benefit from sports medicine and rehabilitation assessment include:

  • For example, flyball or agility participants, canicross. When competitions are won and lost by fractions of a second, tiny improvements in movement can have a big impact on performance and results.

  • Conformation, or show dogs - good movement and condition can have a big impact on the dog's success in the ring.

  • Including therapy dogs, search and rescue, police dogs, gun dogs. These dogs often have to perform quickly and with little notice, which can place big strains on their bodies.

  • These dogs may not perform to high levels in competitions, but chasing balls, catching frisbees or running along the beach can place big demands on musculoskeletal systems, especially if theses activities are intermittent in nature.