Alternative therapies...arthritis?

[Eventer1994]

I've posted on here recently regarding my 5yr old eventer being diagnosed with arthritic changes in the facet joints of the thoracic region of the spine. So my vets recommended osphos medication followed by an appropriate rehab program (6weeks non-ridden work to build up and strengthen the muscle followed by ridden work, i've got my spread sheet all sorted out!)

So my question to you guys is have you used any alternative therapies (laser/shockwave etc) instead of the medication that have work, the fundamental part of the recovery is the rehab program but wondering if there are other routes that have worked that haven't required medication. Worrying that the medication may work short term (for me the medication is the last resort) but for him to have a longer more useful life is there an alternative route that may be slower but ultimately the more long term approach?

 

[Caramac71]

I replied to your previous post as have recently gone through similar.

We used shockwave on our horse as she also had possible supraspinous ligament strain, so the shockwave was supposed to help speed up the healing of the ligament. It really didn't work for her, in my opinion it caused more harm than good. She had 2 (out of 3 proposed) treatments and each time was left incredibly sore and sensitive over her back. Physio said her whole back was in spasm each time. Vet denied shockwave as being the cause (but physio's findings suggested otherwise) - however vet did say that we shouldn't carry out 3rd treatment. Each treatment was, I think, around £300 so in hindsight I wish we hadn't bothered.

In addition to fortnightly physio, we have had an Applied Kinesiologist out for a course of treatments. I know many people are sceptical of kinesiology (myself included!) - however I do believe she has been of great help and I'm happy to tell you more about it if you are interested.

I also feel that the supplements we are using have been of benefit in reducing the inflammation (turmeric and Maxaflex, which contains green lipped mussel as well as all the usual joint supplements).

As you know, we did have one treatment of Tildren but everyone involved in treating her are uncertain as to how much benefit this has been. If I had my time again I would try all of the above first, without the drug treatment. I think you'd have a better idea then of what is really working. We kind of threw everything at it and don't know what made the difference! But I guess that depends on how much pain your horse is in. Ours only really reacted to ridden canterwork, and certainly doing the lunging etc didn't appear to be in any discomfort.