- How many treatments and how much?
- My vet thinks all osteopaths, physiotherapists and chiropractors are rubbish!
- `I wish my vet would be more proactive re my horse’s tendon strain, instead of insisting that my horse has 3 months box rest when the tendon injury does not seem that bad. I’m an athlete and when I’ve strained my tendons in the past, yes I’ve had a couple of days rest and ice packing, but then I’m straight on to physiotherapy/osteopathy and having ultrasound or laser and deep soft tissue massage or friction; all things that the physio/osteo tells me will result in a better healing in the muscle with less adhesion formation and scar tissue. Why can’t this be the same for horses?’
- `My vet said that muscles can’t cause lameness.’
- `Is it dangerous to have the hind limb thrown up in the air?
- How long is a treatment session?
1. How many treatments and how much?
With the type of problems that osteopathy can successfully treat, three sessions over 5-6 weeks should be enough. If there is absolutely no improvement whatsoever then osteopathy is unlikely to be useful. I have seen many horses which are outside the scope of osteopathy and on day one have immediately suggested veterinary referral. It is pointless for an osteopath to treat something which he knows he cannot improve; how unprofessional and stupid!
Fees: £70 per horse. Over 30 miles radius travel charged at £0.50 per mile. 5 or more horses at one yard fee negotiable.
2. My vet thinks all osteopaths, physiotherapists and chiropractors are rubbish!
Well what a statement! Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. I, personally, have never heard that statement but then I only know vets who are respectful concerning these professions. There are vets whose spouses, parents and children are osteopaths, physiotherapists, and chiropractors and I’m not sure that a bad word about these professions would ever dare be mentioned in those households! Vets who have observed me work often remark,`I didn’t know that you did that! I didn’t know that you did this!’ So I think it is an enlightenment problem; I suspect that there are vets out there who have never seen one of the above professions work. I would like to think that this will change over the years and that these disciplines will be demonstrated to final year vet students so as to give them an educated insight, thus allowing them to make a scholarly and accurate judgement in the future. I think that possible negative comments have festered over the years due to the fact that at present there is no statutory regulation, regarding these professions, for work on horses(it will come, I am sure of that). Therefore there are untrained people out there working on horses and this is not good. To put you right re equine osteopathy, nobody can complete the course held by Stuart McGregor at the OCA in Wantage, unless they have first completed the 4 year full time course, or equivalent, in human osteopathy at one of the statutory regulated colleges. This is to ensure that students have the necessary palpatory awareness skills so important for detecting minor tissue changes.
3. `I wish my vet would be more proactive re my horse’s tendon strain, instead of insisting that my horse has 3 months box rest when the tendon injury does not seem that bad. I’m an athlete and when I’ve strained my tendons in the past, yes I’ve had a couple of days rest and ice packing, but then I’m straight on to physiotherapy/osteopathy and having ultrasound or laser and deep soft tissue massage or friction; all things that the physio/osteo tells me will result in a better healing in the muscle with less adhesion formation and scar tissue. Why can’t this be the same for horses?’
Madam, I think that you are right. Obviously with major musculoskeletal injuries there is no debate regarding box rest but I think the controversy and dispute occurs with minor musculoskeletal injuries and I think that this is what you are referring to here. In fact what you mention does in fact occur in racing yards. Time is of the essence in the 2yr old or 3yr old racing careers. Physios, osteos and chiropractors are frequently employed by these yards to do exactly what you mentioned. There is lots of evidenced based research which demonstrates a better alignment of collagen fibres in the muscle following injury if u/sound, laser or deep soft tissue techniques are employed compared to leaving the injury alone. This does result in a better healing within the muscle with less adhesions. Adhesions and scar tissue are not what you want! Also with relative immobility the hyaline cartilage which covers the bones at the joint level has been shown to deteriorate rapidly. (Viedeman et al 1987 and DJD & loss of joint function after fixation/subluxation: joint chiropractic/medical research. (Cramer, Henderson et al, JMPT 2004).
About 20-30 yrs ago the same approach of recommending rest to minor musculoskeletal injuries in humans was the remit of the orthodoxy medical profession. It then changed rapidly to recommending the opposite; where possible get the patient up and moving as quickly as possible. The use of physios, osteos and chiropractors became more prevalent. I suspect that this will happen with veterinary medicine. The next time I see an equine vet in my human practice and he/she needs urgent treatment I might suggest to them lying in bed for 3 months!! I wonder what the response will be?
4. `My vet said that muscles can’t cause lameness.’
A careless comment. Maybe your vet was having a bad day or he thought he could tell you anything or he was acting on monopoly of knowledge. In my anatomy textbooks a tendon is part of the muscle. Tendon injuries below the knee can most definitely cause lameness. Muscle strains in the shoulder and quarters, or pulls or damage as a result of kicks, whilst not causing true lameness, can certainly cause shortness of striding with resultant unlevelness.
5. Is it dangerous to have the hind limb thrown up in the air?
Simple answer, no if it is performed by someone who has been properly trained. Throwing the hind limb is a technique employed to manipulate the pelvis and lumbar spine. Achieving a `click’ is not the objective. The purpose of the technique is to cause a reflex relaxation in the surrounding muscles. In osteopathy the theory is based on the `facilitated segment’ (google `facilitated segment theory’ and you will get lots of evidence based research and information regarding this subject). Whilst the technique looks pretty dramatic, the osteopath is working within the limits dictated by the tension in the muscles and ligaments; in simple terms one would not throw the limb of a hyperthyroid tense 2yr old racing filly or an arthritic horse, as high as a 10yr old chilled, flexible, lay back hunter. You go with the tissues that you have. This is why it is so important to make sure that you find a qualified and dedicated practitioner. Certainly with osteopaths, physiotherapists and chiropractors they all have to have been qualified in the human side of things before going onto horses. This ensures that they have the necessary proprioceptive and palpatory skills so essential to recognise and detect differing tissue states.
6. How long is a treatment session?
As long as it takes to achieve one’s objective; in other words as long as it takes to achieve a change in the tissues. With acute muscle injuries a shorter treatment session would be indicated compared to a chronic, long established muscle injury. With a fidgety horse it is counter productive to treat for too long; find it, fix it and leave it alone! In this case a 15-30 mins. examination and treatment maybe appropriate; any longer then you will solely be satisfying the owner and not the horse! Chronic cases would take longer. You should be looking for quality of treatment and not quantity.
