5 Stages of Successful Rehabilitation Therapy
Are you wondering what rehabilitation therapy looks like? The short answer is it varies depending on what is causing the movement issues and the stage of recovery. The goal of any rehabilitation therapy program is to get your animal moving better. Whether your pet is a senior and is starting to show signs of their age, is recovering from a surgery, or is a sporting partner with an injury or performance issue, a trained rehabilitation therapist can help get them back on track.
These are the stages your dog or horse will go through under the care of the VRSVA rehabilitation therapists:
1. Pain management and tissue healing
If your animal is in pain, they’re not going to want to move much. Or if they do, they’re going to develop compensatory patterns and develop more issues. Step 1 in rehab is identifying any painful spots or injuries and creating a plan to manage the pain and heal the injury. Depending on the severity and cause of the pain, this may include treatment with laser therapy, pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF), vibration plate, massage, chiropractic, acupuncture or joint mobilizations. Early post-operative cases usually start in this stage to aid the healing process.
Once your pet is able to move a bit without aggravating the pain, we can move on to step 2…
2. Balance, coordination and correcting movement patterns
Pain is no longer a limiting factor, and your animal has some comfortable movements. Now is the time to make sure their muscles are activating correctly and they are moving with good form. If you notice your animal has a weird gait pattern or is stumbling, it could be a sign that their balance and coordination need some work. If not addressed, these issues could lead to compensation patterns and risk of re-injury. In this stage we may continue with the pain management strategies and add new gentle exercises and techniques to improve movement patterns.
Once your pet is able to move with good balance, coordination and movement patterns, we’re ready for step 3…
3. Strength training
If you’ve ever been sidelined by an injury, you know how quickly we lose muscle and cardiovascular fitness. With consistent effort over several weeks to months, your animal can build back their strength and fitness so they can get back to their normal daily lives. These exercises are typically more functional and specific to your animal’s usual exercise and activity routines. The underwater treadmill can be a great tool to use in this stage to build general strength and fitness.
Once your pet is able to perform these exercises with good form and no new pain, we can move on to step 4…
4. Return to daily life and/or sport without limitations
The key to this stage of rehab is PROGRESSIVE return to daily life and sport! Now that they are moving without exacerbating their old injury or pain, showing good movement patterns and strength, we can reintroduce their usual daily routines in small doses. We build on the reps, time of activity, or difficulty to challenge the animal. If done incorrectly, it’s easy to overdo exercise at this stage and end up with an aggravation of the injury. Your rehab therapist will be able to guide you and monitor your pet for signs that they are ready to progress the activity, or stay at that level for a while longer.
Once your pet is back to their old self and able to participate in their usual activities without repercussions, we can move on to step 5…
5. Maintain function/ Injury prevention
Sometimes in rehab, we can’t cure the underlying problem. For example, we can’t cure osteoarthritis or degenerative myelopathy. What we CAN do is manage the symptoms and keep your pet feeling better for longer. In stage 5, most of the rehab is happening at home with your prescribed home exercise program. Rehab sessions act as a “tune-up” and happen once every 4-6 weeks.
These “tune-ups” are also helpful for injury prevention in sporting and performance animals. The therapist will answer your questions, assess your pet’s progress, address pain, look for any developing compensatory patterns and update the home exercise program as needed.
Please contact us if you feel like your dog or horse may need rehab services to get back to normal life/exercise/work/sport/competition. We will set aside time to discuss your concerns and figure out if rehabilitation therapy is the right fit to meet your goals.