How much of a difference can a registered physiotherapist make? re:spavins

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milz88

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Hi,

I have a qualified physio coming out to my horse next wednesday, as reccommended by my vet. My horse has been treated (injections into hocks) for bilateral bone spavin, and has since become sound on a flexion test.

When I started riding again after the injections he felt much more level and I could not identify any 'lame steps or strides', however he was very, very reluctant to actually go forward still, I can't even get a decent working trot out of him let alone anything like a medium, we became concerned he had simply lost mobility/range of movement which I was told 'could' happen however, it felt so bad to me, I thought there had to be another reason.

The vet then suggested a bone scan to identify to us any areas that might need further investigation, but the scan came back 'clean', so no big problems like suspensories/kissing spine/stifle etc but the vet at Avonvale (where he was referred for the scan), Chris...I have forgotten his surname, as we use Hook Norton, also thermally imaged his head and neck for his own personal interest, and to quote 'his neck was roasting red hot' and they detected some back soreness, which would obviously indicate why he was finding it hard to work forward and into an outline, poor boy they said it was probably from an old injury but couldn't say how old.

So overall, out next steps are to set upon him with the physio (and I really am hoping she can perform some kind of magic) and to shockwave his back, and refit both saddles and hope that he will soon come right again! fingers crossed, so I wanted to know how much have physios helped your horses in the past?

Sorry for the essay!
 
Chris Colles........doing diagnostics for his own personal interest.......mmmmmmmmmmm. :mad: However, that's another story......

Anyway, as you're probably aware back pain is often secondary to hock pain.....the horse uses a hip-hike to avoid flexing the hock joint and therefore sets up other problems in the tail of the glutes and long. dorsi especially.
I would expect a physio to be able to deal with this, no probs.

However, IF there has been trauma from an old injury to neck/back......then probably not so straightforwards or easy to resolve.

Also, sometimes even when the cause of the pain is removed the horse can be nervous/reluctant to utilise itself in the correct manner due to the memory and therefore continues to hold itself/protect itself. A good strong rehab rider or work from the ground is then often the way forwards.

Good luck.
 
They just said to get the physio out and see what she can do to help him, and we are going to shockwave his back too, as gunnergundog has pointed out, he would have been compensating for the pain in his hocks by moving in a different fashion and therefor causing back pain, so I hope she can help sort him out, she can't come until next wednesday.

Do you have a bad experience with Chris Colles then?
 
my horse has bilateral bone spavin. she was diagnosed at the beginning of the year. after the steroid injections she was sound. I also asked for physio treatment. the 1st session (with ACPAT physio) focused on her tight back. 4-5 wks later she was checked again- back had stayed loose/good and she had TENS machine type treatment on her rump which she needed sedating for as muscles so tight & sore. 4 wks later another check up and her bum was so much better- had the same treatment again and almost enjoyed it (no sedation). Such a huge improvement. can't wait to ride her again as her muscles feel so different to touch now.
not sure if she'd have improved by herself over time, but given that 8-10wks after the steriod injections (pain gone) her muscles were still so tight. definitely give it a go- if muscles tighten after physio treatment then there's still a problem/pain present.
 
I have had my friend Nelson 11 undertake physio on my horse as she is a qualified veterinary physiotherapist. Its my understanding that horses with BS tend to over compensate elsewhere in the body, in my horses case its his n/f and he has developed more muscle on this side as he had been taking the weight onto this limb in order to prevent pain from the opposite diagonal hock o/h.

BS horses also tend to develop muscular problems in their backs in an effort to compensate for pain in their hocks. This is a problem with horses that have hind suspensory problems too, and some horses will go on to develop further problems like kissing spine as a result of hind limb problems.

Gemma has all manner of equipment to assist her in her job, pulsed magnetic therapy and ultrasound and once the horse has been assessed and 'loosened up' she may (depending on the type of condition) use this technology to assist with the horses rehab. Often the onus is on the owner to work alongside the physio in the day to day handling/management of the horse in question and between them they can usually come up with a 'rehab' programme to assist the horse into coming back into work in the quickest and most sensible manner possible.

I do apologise if I have explained this theory incorrectly, I am just a layman.
 
Thank you for the further replies, mine will be an ACPAT registered physio too, so can't wait til next weds when she will be making her first visit, he just feels so good in his step and I can't pick up any lameness at all, I think he is itching to get back to work, its just he is still sore when asked to work forward into and outline and engage properly, so hopefully this will really help!

applecart- glad to hear it has worked so well for your horse, sounds like your friend has done a marvellous job, I hope we can develop a good re-hab plan too! :)
 
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