Chiropractic Care For Your Pet
From AllCareAnimal
Animal chiropractic has great potential to help your pet.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
The recent increase in chiropractic care for animals is the result of a popular trend toward alternative veterinary treatments. Increasingly, people are recognizing the benefits of chiropractic care for themselves (now the second largest primary health care field in the world) and people also are becoming aware of the role that chiropractic care plays in the health of their animals.
[edit] What is Chiropractic?
When functioning properly, the body has the ability to heal itself. Chiropractic care is a drugless profession that assists the body in self-repair. Chiropractic care is based on the relationship of the spinal column to the nervous system and considers the role of the spinal column in biomechanics and movement. Nerves lie between the vertebrae of the spinal column, thus improper motion of the vertebrae can affect the nervous system. Since the nervous system coordinates and controls all other organs in the body, a dysfunctional spinal column can affect the whole body in many ways. Chiropractors call this phenomenon "subluxation." Chiropractors correct subluxations by adjusting the spinal column to restore function to the nervous system. This often directly addresses the cause of many problems.
Chiropractors are biomechanical experts who detect joint dysfunction and restore proper joint motion through observation, palpation (touch), and adjustments. Observation allows the doctor to see subtle changes in gait, posture, muscle balance, and behavior. Palpation reveals not only conditions such as scoliosis, kyphosis (roachback), and lordosis (swayback), but it also detects alteration in muscle tone, temperature, inflammation, and pain. Motion palpation is the evaluation of active and passive range of motion in the vertebral joint or extremities. Acute observation and careful palpation allow the chiropractor to determine if and where an adjustment is needed.
Adjustments are specific forces that are applied in a particular direction to restore proper motion and musculoskeletal balance in joints, such as the vertebrae. While the adjustment is unique to the chiropractic profession, other common treatments such as soft tissue techniques and stretches are also used to restore function as soon as possible.
[edit] How Do I Know If My Pet Needs Adjusting?
Since prevention is always the best approach to health care, every pet is a potential chiropractic patient. All physical exams should include a spinal assessment and adjustment if indicated.
Most subluxations are caused by either macrotrauma or microtrauma. Macrotrauma is a major injury, such as getting hit by a car or taking a bad fall. Microtrauma includes smaller traumas that may happen repeatedly such as jumping for balls or hopping in and out of cars. The birthing process can also lead to subluxation if the spine is under abnormal stress. Drugs and environmental stresses are other causes of subluxation. In addition, as animals age their bodies can't handle stress as well and this tension accumulates in the joints. If your pet has undergone surgery, then it may also require chiropractic attention. With injuries severe enough to necessitate surgery, muscular imbalances have undoubtedly occurred both before and after the operation. These imbalances, along with gait alterations that result from surgical pain or dysfunction, add stress to other joints and may create more problems.
Because animals can't tell us when something is wrong, we have to observe their behavior carefully. Behavioral changes can indicate your animal may benefit from an adjustment. Lameness, decreased activity, restlessness, appetite changes, aversion to the leash, and unwillingness to follow a lead are all signs that an adjustment may be required. Athletic animals also benefit greatly from adjustments. Just as the human athlete requires unrestricted, pain free movement, the same holds true for animals. Optimal performance cannot occur if the body's biomechanical integrity is compromised. In fact, in some cases excessive exercise may be detrimental to the health of an animal that needs an adjustment.
[edit] How Long Will This Take?
Chiropractic care takes time, since we are allowing the body to heal itself after the proper nerve function has been restored. In general, animals recover very rapidly, but older animals and more serious problems take longer to repair. Some problems are so serious that chiropractic care will not completely solve the problem. Sometimes further testing, such as radiography and lab tests may be necessary to further evaluate the problem.
[edit] Factors That Affect the Speed of Recovery
- How long the problem has been present.
- The more time that has elapsed since the onset of injury, the longer the recovery may take. Just as it takes time to get sick, it also takes time to get well.
- Age and physical condition.
- Older animals heal more slowly, but the quality of their lives may be greatly increased with chiropractic care.
- Severity of the condition.
- How much damage has been done? Sometimes there is simply no repairing severely damaged tissues. For example, severe damage of the spinal cord by a ruptured disc may result in slow and minimal recovery despite the treatment regimen.
- Commitment.
- The speed of recovery and success often depends on how committed the pet owner is to the animal's treatment regimen. Removal of the pet from care too soon may prevent complete healing and recovery.
[edit] Office Procedures
Our doctor of chiropractic is not a veterinarian and works by referral from a veterinarian only. This is to ensure the patient receives the most appropriate and effective care possible. The veterinarian will determine if a patient is a good candidate for chiropractic care. The veterinarian will take a history and perform a thorough examination first, if the patient is a good candidate, the chiropractor will then determine and schedule adjustments that best fit the patient's needs. Most animals are seen on a weekly basis at first, but some may need more frequent visits. The patient is seen with decreased frequency until the animal's body retains the corrections. Maintenance visits may be recommended to decrease the chance of future problems.
