Rehabilitation for Hip Dysplasia

Rehabilitation for Hip Dysplasia

Introduction

Rhea is a 7-year-old German Shepard x Husky, and she began her journey with Snowy’s back in 2021 when she was first diagnosed with suspected Hip Dysplasia. Having initially undergone an intense course of Hydrotherapy within our Underwater Treadmill to help re-educate her gait and build important muscle mass to support her hip joints, the use of the treadmill also enabled us to assess her gait patterns and muscular movement patterns where we could see that Rhea wasn’t firing through important muscle groups during motion, creating her to overuse other areas to compensate.

Treatment Plan

We felt it was necessary to incorporate Myotherapy Massage into her treatment plan to help develop muscle balance so that we could determine a more even and stronger use of her gait to aid with overall muscle health and well-being which in the long term, would aid with longevity of mobility.

Progress and Outcome

Rhea continues to visit us every three weeks for Myotherapy Massage to continue to maintain her muscle groups and release muscular tension as she moves through the years with Hip Dysplasia. Not only are we able to target specific problem areas, but we can also keep on top of these areas that would over time, otherwise pose a potential issue if left, but it also allows us to feel for any potential further changes to other muscle and tissue structures. We truly believe in the power of hands-on manipulation with our hands being a leading tool in this specialist treatment.

This treatment helps to keep Rhea stable in her mobility, allowing her to enjoy walks and life at home with her owners and their other dog.

Conclusion

Rhea is just one of the many dogs that we treat with this type of treatment and the results are astounding with improved mobility, range of motion and overall health and well-being, particularly in older dogs. It also allows us to build trust with dogs that may be unsure or nervous of new situations, helping to develop our relationship with them using a gentle hands-on approach to further develop a confident treatment plan into the future.

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