So the story goes….I took Rooney to the orthopedist and he was diagnosed with Biceps and Rotator Cuff tendonitis. For those of you who don’t know what this means, it is basically an injury to some tendons around the shoulder muscles. He was placed in a specific harness for a few weeks and then was told to see a canine physical therapist. I thought to myself…it’s obvious humans to go to physical therapy for tendonitis…but REALLY…. how do you do therapy on a dog for a tendonitis? Curious… I had to find the BEST physical therapist for my dog and see what she did. So this physical therapist and I started talking about our treatment approaches. How at Rebalance our philosophy is treating holistically…looking for the cause of the symptom and not just treating for pain….AND what would you know! Her philosophy for canines is the same….it’s no different. Treat the whole body versus treating in pieces. We both agreed that unfortunately in both or our worlds there are so many injuries being treated with a pigeon whole philosophy.
After evaluating Rooney, she noticed how much tightness he had around his shoulder, neck, back muscles and also how much weakness he had in his spine. He received everything from manual trigger point release, myofascial work on all these areas, cold laser and then he had homework. Really I had homework to do with Rooney. LOTS OF STABILIZATION and for me to also do manual work on him. I thought to myself…WE REALLY ARE LIKE OUR PETS!
So WHAT CAN ROONEY TEACH US…. the take home is…if you have an injury that is transient and waxes and wanes…chances are… IT’S NOT GOING AWAY by itself. Sure meds and rest can help but there is a cause underlying the symptoms your are feeling. If you had previous treatments that did not give you relief or complete relief…then perhaps you need a different approach….a more HOLISTIC approach. The cause can extend beyond just the injury site. It can involve multiple joints and muscles. Imbalances in the spine and fascia can have an impact areas far from where you think the injury is. So STOP WAITING….and come in and let’s take a look at this stubborn injury that hasn’t improved!
P.S. Rooney is doing GREAT!!! No more limping and he is off chasing the rabbits and pigeons…and saving my tomatoe plants from being eaten!!! WIN WIN for both.
