Hydrotherapy spas

[ann-jen]

Has anyone used one - in particular for a horse with an injury? What problem did your horse have and did you find it helped at all in the recovery? There is one very close to me and I'm thinking of giving it a try and wondered what other peoples experiences were like.

 

[stencilface]

only used the human variety, but I can only assume they can be good for horses. Is this for the one with the ligament thingy from your post the other day?

I have seen the horses at Bramham in the cold water spa thing they have there after the xc and they really seem to enjoy it, look very relaxed anyway. I would give it a go, it can't do any harm can it, and it might help the horse relax, which is good for recovery, even if it isn't directly improving the ailment

 

[ann-jen]

It is for her actually. Basically the yard directly opposite ours has a spa and so it seems silly not to make use of it when its so close to hand although I'm not entirely sure of its benefits - if any and just wondered if anyone had any experience.

 

[FrodoBeutlin]

A friend of mine sends her horse (top dressage horse) to do water therapy (on a treadmill, which then gets filled with water; not sure if it's the same thing they have at your place) regularly. She started after a quite serious injury, so for rehab reasons, but liked it so much she now sends him every year for 2-3 weeks. She says his paces are MUCH improved when he comes back, especially his trot which gets even more expressive than it normally is.

 

[Gonetofrance]

My friend in Ireland has one.
She reckons it is amazing for wounds and injuries, but the quicker the horse is treated the better.
A lot of Irish trainers use hers, it speeds up the initial healing time on tendon injuries.

 

[ann-jen]

Its not a treadmill type one I don't think - although that sounds very similar to one that my dog went on after his cruciate op - although on a much larger scale obviously!
Thats interesting that people are using the one in Ireland for tendon injuries - Jenny has some damage to her suspensory ligament - but realistically I wondered if the same sort of effect would be achieved just by cold hosing or whether there's more to it than that. The hydrotherapy people haven't rung me back yet and there website doesn't elude to very much.

 

[sillygillyhorse]

I have sent three of my horses for spa treatments, one a TB with flat feet who was a bit jarred up, used to take him after he had run xc. The other two have both had kick injuries. Now if any get that type of injury I pack them off to the equine spa for a week and they come back brilliant. really aids the healing process.

have a look at www.flawboroughequine.co.uk if you go to the links page they have a link that takes you to the manufacturers pages and explains all the benefits etc.

All the horses I have sent for these treatments have benefited enormously.

 

[Gonetofrance]

This is her site, I'm sure this type of facility would help your horse.
http://www.equinehydrotherapy.com/

Give them a ring, she'll be helpful.

 

[ann-jen]

Thanks both of you - funnily enough I just googled equine spas and both those sites came up - they are a bit more informative than the site for the spa near me so I have a bit more information about it. I don't think I have anything to lose by giving it a try so will give them another ring or pop over tomorrow and see if I can book some sessions.
Thanks for your help.

 

[jen1]

There's a spa at my livery yard, I haven't had cause to use it (yet!!!) but those that have have reported great results. Here's the info from YO web site www.equinespa.co.uk it may answer some of your questions. I have seen horses in the spa and they take to it very well. There's been race horses in training, eventers and ponies with laminitis to name but a few. She charges £25 per session, although think Herts is a bit far for you to travel!!!

EQUINE HYDROTHERAPY SPA treatments work through a combination of factors.
To understand how cold sea water hydrotherapy works we firstly need to appreciate how the body reacts to injuries such as bruising, wounds and strains etc.

When cells within the body are damaged, enzymes and proteins are released causing the blood vessel walls in that vicinity to dilate and become more porous.

The site of the trauma is then targeted by lymphocytes passing through the porous membranes and entering the injured tissues to begin fighting the infection.

Fluids, rich in oxygen and proteins to facilitate tissue repair, also pool around the injured area. At the same time hormones are secreted which trigger the pain response.

Depending on the degree of injury, pain, heat and swelling will be evident. Pain helps prevent overuse of the affected area. Heat results from the increased blood flow to the injury site, and swelling (or oedema) helps immobilise the area.

All these reactions appear beneficial, however, if this process is over zealous, the swollen tissues and extra fluid actually rupture healthy surrounding tissue not damaged in the original injury.

This secondary damage is called hypoxic injury which can compound the problem. In addition, blood vessels in the area are put under increasing pressure by the fluid build up, so reducing the flow of blood and lymph fluids.

The safest way to break the destructive cycle of secondary cell injury and excess oedema is to use the horse’s circulatory system to sweep away excess fluids that have collected in the tissues.

While anti-inflammatory agents like bute can reduce swelling and heat, they also can mask pain and confuse the diagnostic picture. There are two natural ways of encouraging the dispersal of excess fluids - applying heat, and applying cold.

Heat, however, should never be applied to an acute injury which leaves us with having to apply cold in many cases.

Why not just cold hose legs?

Cold water hosing, a common method of treating inflammation, cools the skin surface, but the temperature is uncontrolled and might not be cold enough to affect the structures most often involved in injury.

Also there is no drawing effect as the solution is not saline, and the dissolved oxygen content will be lower than in the equine spa.

The Equine Spa achieves fast, long term hydrotherapy treatment through a combination of various factors:

* Cold water

* Aeration (providing a massage element)

* Salt (established in general healing and as a poultice drawing out fluid)

* Variable depth option for accurate treatment

Clinical trials have shown that all of these together provide an unusually high level of oxygen in the water, which is thought to aid healing further still.

Crucial is the ultra-cool temperature and strong salinity of the water, which together, improve upon the therapeutic qualities of either sea water or running fresh water in their natural states.

For details on the use of cryotherapy for sports injuries in humans please visit
http://www.cet-cryotherapy.com.

 

[ann-jen]

Hi Jen - thanks for that info.
I've booked Jenny in for her first session on Thursday. The plan is to drop her off for the day on her first session. Apparently they like to just walk them in and out the unit first of all to see how they are going to react and not panic and things and so they might want to put her in and out a few times before doing the actual session. The lady that runs it thinks Jenny will need to go 2-3x a week initially so I'm going to hack her over at weekends and my day off for the first few times but in some ways I'm wondering if I might be better off just boarding her over there for now! I think I'll wait and see how much of a benefit it is before making a decision that huge. I don't know if anyone would be interested to hear how the sessions go or not but I might stick a post up in a few weeks if there is anything to report.
AJ