Soft Tissue Injuries & Lameness
Are you worried and stressed out seeing your dog have difficulty in putting its foot down? Or is your dog walking with a limp, not wanting to put weight on it? Muscles pull on the bones to produce movement and the muscular system can house a vast range of painful issues; injuries can go overlooked or simply be blanketed as a `Soft Tissue` problem or injury. If ever this happens, please do not ignore it or leave it left untreated. Rest alone does NOT resolve it.
Canine Balance can assist with getting your dog back to doing what it loves best – running, working and playing pain-free!
Treating Lameness and Injury in Your Dog
Your first response once you recognise your dog is injured or lame is to seek veterinary help for pain relief anti-inflammatory medication. With strict rest and pain relief, this will bring the inflammation down and allow the body to naturally heal. It is imperative that you minimize stresses on the joints by allowing only limited gentle activity which avoids further injury and provides the dog’s body the conditions it needs to recover.
Roughly 7 days after your vet visit, Canine Balance can provide soft tissue therapy for your dog as it can speed up the recovery process. We will provide your dog a full examination to ensure we will provide you with the best possible solution. We anticipate your dog will be on its guard so we will take our time ensuring we stay within their comfort levels. We will treat the whole body and get to the injury last.
Soft tissue treatments will promote relaxation of tight, inflexible muscles to help improve their elasticity, and range of movement and can help dogs cope with other orthopaedic issues like Arthritis, Hip Dysplasia, Spondylosis and post operations.
Canine Massage Therapy also pinpoints the issue and determines the nature of the soft tissue problem. By releasing painful Trigger Points (knots), reducing muscular tightness and tension, remodelling scar tissue, lengthening shortened muscles, to re-balance the dog, and improving Range Of Movement (ROM), dog massage can produce visibly significant results in 1 to 3 sessions.
Follow-up is essential
Getting your dog back to its normal self will take time and patience. You must introduce your dog to a series of strengthening exercises, especially if they have already demonstrated some signs of recovery. While your dog has been off its leg, there will be muscle wastage. If this is not addressed, then your dog will most likely go back and reinjure itself when you let it out to run again. We are happy to come back and assist you and your dog through this tricky time of recovery. Providing you with a specific canine rehabilitation program and a few extra visits by Canine Balance will ensure your dogs’ soft tissue injuries are a thing of the past.
Call us now for your 10-minute phone chat to discuss your situation and how we can help you are your dog get back to doing what they love best – running, working and playing.
