Rehabilitation and Pain Management

Rehabilitation – Dr Walden will be finishing her Rehabilitation Certification by the end of the year. She is taking her coursework through Canine Rehabilitation Institute in Springfield Missouri. She is excited to be learning about joint mobilization, soft tissue work, learning about the multitude of ways that rehabilitation can help our patients and improving her diagnostic skills. Matt Walden is also taking classes and will be a Certified Veterinary Rehabilitation Assistant by the end of the year. He has all the patience in the world and you will often see him in the treadmill with the dogs as they get used to it, walking them through exercises and guiding clients on how they can work with their dogs at home. He enjoys the biomechanics of physical therapy and rehabilitation and can’t wait for this part of the practice to grow. It was his idea to have our large backroom added on when we built the hospital just so we could eventually add this service.

Dr Walden took her acupuncture training and became certified in Animal Acupuncture at Colorado State University in 2004. In Chinese medicine, acupuncture has been practiced for more than 2000 years. Traditional Chinese Medicine uses acupuncture to balance the body and allow for normal flow of “Qi”. During an acupuncture visit you can expect a full exam the first time and Dr Walden will go over your pet’s history and make a plan. She will then insert very thin needles into the acupuncture sights and trigger points. These needles can help relax surrounding tissue, release the body’s natural pain modulators and help stimulate neurostimulation. She frequently uses it in patients that have osteoarthritis, muscle strains, neurologic disorders and soft tissue pain. Some pets do well with just dry needling and you can expect the needles to stay in for 20-45 minutes. Cats typically need shorter time periods. Some conditions and pets benefit from Electro-acupuncture where a small current is passed between needles and an alternating slow and faster pulse is turned on. This is typically not done at the first visit. Some pets benefit from it, but some pets don’t require it or tolerate it. Aquapuncture is the placement of sterile B12 at some of the acupuncture sites just under the skin. This bleb of fluid will stimulate the acupuncture site longer

Laser Therapy (Photobiomodulation) is used for a variety of conditions. We have found it very helpful in acute inflammation situations such as post surgery inflammation, soft tissue injuries, intervertebral disc disease, orthopedic injuries and arthritis. Our Laser is a Class IV laser meaning that it has been shown to be powerful enough to get to the site of injury. It can help decrease inflammation, bring in cells to help with healing and encourage healthy cell

It not only improves healing but also helps with pain. Some pets benefit from several treatments and some do well with just one.

We couldn’t be more excited to have the space to have a water treadmill on site. The treadmill can be used in different ways. It can be filled to a level where it takes extra weight off overweight dogs, senior dogs, or other dogs that need to get back to normal range of motion and build muscle. The water can be lowered the act as resistance to help patients get more strength. This is really helpful for sporting dogs trying to safely build more endurance and strength. The sessions start off slow to get the dogs used to the treadmill. We even have life jackets for the tiny guys. With each session we love to watch the progress of our patients building muscle and strength. Building strength often leads to better mobility and less pain in our senior patients. Our post op TPLO patients get back their muscle mass faster while at the same time protecting and strengthening the opposite leg that has been compensating for so long.

Coming soon to help with pain and increase muscle function.

Coming soon!