Physical Rehabilitation

Pet Physical Therapy

Rehabilitation plays an important role in recovery from orthopedic injury or surgery. Physical therapy helps restore strength, mobility, and joint function while reducing pain and preventing future injury.

Physical Rehabilitation Services

• Cryotherapy & Thermotherapy is the use of ice or heat to decrease pain in joints, muscles and other soft tissues.
• Electrical Stimulation with the use of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) & Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES).
• Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy, also known as ESWT or Shockwave Therapy, is a non-invasive treatment that utilizes high-energy sound waves to stimulate the body’s natural healing response.
• Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy is the use of specific electromagnetic frequencies to reduce inflammation, relieve pain, and accelerate healing.
• Therapeutic laser, also known as photobiomodulation, cold laser, low level laser, or class IV laser uses specific wavelengths of light to decrease pain and inflammation. It is used to promote tissue healing and can decrease pain and inflammation or speed up recovery time for a number of conditions.
• Therapeutic Ultrasound is the use of sound waves to create tissue heating or vibration for therapeutic effects.
• Orthotic & Assistive Devices such as harnesses, slings and wheelchairs can be used to help support your pet after an injury, surgery or as they age.
• Hydrotherapy or underwater treadmill utilizes the warmth, buoyancy, and resistance of the water to create a safe and comfortable environment for physical rehabilitation after surgery or injury and sports conditioning.
• Land treadmill can be utilized in gait retraining following orthopedic or neurological injury or surgery and useful for sports conditioning, weight loss or management, to encourage the use of a limb after surgery, and to warm up tissues before therapeutic exercise or manual therapy.
• Manual therapy is the use of several specific “hands on” techniques to help restore normal function to muscles and joints.
• Sports conditioning is helpful to reduce your pet's risk of injury during competition or training. A customized in-clinic sports conditioning plan can be created including targeting strengthening exercises, underwater treadmill, manual therapy, laser and/or acupuncture.
• Therapeutic exercises can be used for a wide variety of injuries or disorders. We tailor all exercise plans for the specific needs of each patient. 

With the right rehab plan, your pet will be back to their fun, playful self in no time!

Integrative, Diagnostic & Regenerative Medicine Services

• Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese technique that promotes the body’s natural healing process through the placement of very thin needles through the skin at strategic points on the body to produce a physiologic response.
• Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a form of regenerative medicine that is used to treat inflammatory conditions affecting ligaments, muscles, tendons, or joint issues such as arthritis. It may also assist with bone regeneration after a fracture and promotes the healing of skin wounds. By injecting platelet-rich plasma at the site of inflammation, healing of the affected tissue and inflammation reduction often occurs. PRP is derived by removing red blood cells from whole blood and isolating platelets. A sample of blood is taken directly from the patient and spun down in a centrifuge, with the remaining red blood cells being removed and discarded. The leftover concentrate contains platelets and proteins with alpha granules, which carry substances called cytokines or growth factors that activate cells and help repair wounded or inflamed tissues. PRP injections can be used to promote healing and treat areas of inflammation in the body.
  
• PennHIP is a specialized radiographic technique that measures canine hip joint laxity to provide early detection and predict the development of osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease) and hip dysplasia as early as 16 weeks of age. This testing is performed by a specially trained and PennHIP certified veterinarian, using three specific X-ray views to calculate a distraction index (DI), with lower scores indicating tighter, healthier hips. 
• Canine Diagnostic Musculoskeletal (MSK) Ultrasound evaluates soft tissue and is commonly used to diagnose strains, tears, and tendinopathies by using high-frequency soundwaves to produce images. MSK ultrasound is safe and painless, and while it does not require anesthesia, sedation is usually recommended to capture the best images. It's also very cost effective in comparison to other diagnostic imaging such as MRI and CT. Often combined with regenerative medicine like PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma), it can provide a very localized view of an injury, allowing us to precisely target specific areas of inflammation and damage.

Please contact our Animalia Rehab team directly at (615) 595-7100 to schedule your initial consultation with our team!