Uses & Benefits

Why treat?

• Preventative maintenance – it is easier to prevent a problem than repair the damage. Our evaluations and treatments enable us to detect small musculoskeletal changes earlier, which can lessen permanent damage
• Rehabilitation following injury – as well as helping with the problem/injured area we can address soft tissue compensatory issues before they, in themselves, become a problem
• Guidance before, during and after training and competition – ensures your animal is physically performing at their optimum level ready for competition. After competition helps recovery from the physical stresses and strains that competing, racing etc. places on the body.
• To investigate changes in disposition or behavioural problems – the majority of behavioural problems are the result of pain, by addressing the pain this will improve their disposition.
• To address signs of pain or poor performance

Why treat the whole body? – Some practitioners and other therapeutic modalities focus their treatments purely on the spine, or just on muscles, or just training and riding. The body functions a whole, so why treat each part separately when it all interconnects and works together as one unit? Everything is linked; the skeletal system, the muscular system, the cardiovascular/ cardiorespiratory system, the way we train, the way we ride. A problem in one area will lead to compensatory issues in other areas which can be found and corrected quicker if looking at the entire animal every time. Also, a problem that appears to be originating in a certain area (e.g. a hind limb lameness) may just be exhibiting its effects in that area but originates else where in the body (e.g. in the back or forelimb problem), which can also be found when treating the entire body rather than just the area exhibiting the issue. Therefore, we treat the cause of the problem rather than just the symptom.

Benefits

• Increases performance – due to increased range of motion, improved muscle tone, lengthened connective tissue, increased stamina, flexibility, and gait quality which reduces strain and maximises elasticity. If the animal moves better he is far more efficient in his stride
• Increased career longevity – There is less wear and tear on the joints, ligaments and tendons, giving a longer performing life, and improvement in stamina and lessens the risk of injury due to fatigue or strain
• Realigns and rebalances the body – decreases muscle tension, relieves musculoskeletal pain, tension and discomfort, gives increased range of joint motion, causes positive changes in facet joint kinematics, increased pain tolerance, increased muscle strength, increase mobility and enhances the natural self-healing capabilities of the body
• Helps the nervous system to work more efficiently – helps to release impinged nerves, and no cell or organ of the body can function properly without its correct supply of nerve impulses
• Improves disposition – if an animal is uncomfortable or in pain they present their objections by changing their behaviour. This is their way of communicating with us that there is a problem. Therefore, often when we work on the problem behaviour and disposition improve as the issue is relieved
• Provides comfort to injured muscles – as it helps by encouraging scar tissue to be laid down in better patterns, which helps to restore the muscle to better returning function
• Improves circulation – means less effort during warm-up so energy is conserved for athletic exertion, and waste and toxin elimination is more efficient
• Muscles associated with an orthopaedic issues are kept flexible and free of pain
• Assesses the physical condition – enables us to feel tight muscles, areas of reactivity and subtle changes in texture, tone, temperature and tension. This enables us to detect earlier hard to recognise sub-clinical changes, which can lessen permanent damage