Tag Archives: back pain

Improve Range of Motion and Reduce Pain

No body has to live in pain from injury, arthritis, back pain, sciatica. That sounds like a radical statement but there are many therapies to address chronic pain. Myofascial Release is a soft tissue therapy designed to change and improve the health of the fascia. Fascia is the soft tissue component of the connective tissue that provides support and protection for most structures within the body.

Fascia literally holds us together. When we encounter fascial and muscle dysfunction, the result is usually pain and discomfort, loss of range of motion in our bodies ,and a subsequent loss of well-being and quality of life.

When the fascia gets bunched, similar to plastic Saran wrap for example, it can bind down on nerves, blood vessels and organs and thus cause restriction and pain.

Because the fascia cannot be detected on X-ray, CT ,or MRI ,scans it is often the reason for unidentified discomfort.

Myofascial Release breaks down scar tissue, relaxes muscles, and restores good posture. It is used with great success to target chronic pain, sometimes in only a few sessions. I have been working on many horses lately that have been recovering from injuries. In just a few sessions, we are seeing better joint flexibility and range of motion. Instead of an angular, disjointed profile, the body has a harmonious, flowing appearance.

There Are So Many Uses for the Cold Laser!

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Low Level Laser Therapy uses light at a wavelength that the cells of the body are receptive to. The light is absorbed and energy production is increased, speeding up the healing process,and increasing the quality of the repair.

Facial pain, trapped nerves, Achilles tendonitis, muscle fatigue, Lymphedema (also known as lymphatic obstruction, a condition of localized fluid retention and tissue swelling), chronic low back pain, to name a few, have been treated successfully with LLLT/Cold Laser Therapy.

There have been many clinical trials proving the effectiveness of cold laser therapy. Neck pain and whiplash, normally difficult to successfully resolve due to the sensitivity of the area, has a positive outcome with LLLT, as does sciatica and pain felt under the shoulder blade. The evidence for Age Related Macular disease (AMD) and stroke is rapidly emerging, and clinical trials are planned for Parkinson`s and Alzheimer’s.

The wonderful thing about the laser is it can do no harm if used correctly. If you or your horse has pain or soreness at a horse show, ask me to use the cold laser on the painful area. At a CIC or CCI I often use the laser on all the joints of the horses’ legs before the jog and after cross country.

With Laser Therapy you can heal and relieve pain, heal muscle, tendon and ligament injuries, ease inflammation and swelling, treat wounds, and so much more!

The Perils of Riding Young Horses

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What Does it Mean to “Start” a Young Horse?

Let us now turn to the second discussion, which is what I mean by “starting” and the whole history of that. Many people today – at least in our privileged country – do not realize how hard you can actually work a mature horse – which is very, very hard. But before you can do that without significantly damaging the animal, you have to wait for him to mature, which means – waiting until he is four to six years old before asking him to carry you on his back.

What bad will happen if you put him to work as a riding horse before that? Two important things – and probably not what you’re thinking of. What is very unlikely to happen is that you’ll damage the growth plates in his legs. At the worst, there may be some crushing of the cartilages, but the number of cases of deformed limbs due to early use is tiny. The cutting-horse futurity people, who are big into riding horses as young as a year and a half, will tell you this and they are quite correct. Want to damage legs? There’s a much better way – just overfeed your livestock (you ought to be able to see a young horse’s ribs – not skeletal, but see ‘em – until he’s two).

Structural damage to the horse’s back from early riding is somewhat easier to produce than structural damage to his legs. There are some bloodlines (in Standardbreds, Arabians, and American Saddlebreds) that are known to inherit weak deep intervertebral ligament sheathing; these animals are especially prone to the early, sudden onset of “saddle back’” However, individuals belonging to these bloodlines are by no means the only ones who may have their back “slip” and that’s because, as mentioned above, the stress of weight bearing on the back passes parallel to its growth plates as well as parallel to the intervertebral joints. However, despite the fact that I have provided a photo of one such case for this posting, I want to add that the frequency of slipped backs in horses under 6 years old is also very low.

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Does My Horse Have Back Pain?

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Some back pain in your horse is obvious: he flinches when touched or groomed. There are other signs to watch out for:

Stiff or restricted movement

Dips the back when first mounted

Girthy

Steps short with hind legs

Grinds teeth

Starts refusing jumps

Avoids trotting: wants to go directly from walk to canter.

Wants to use one canter lead no matter what direction is being traveled.

Swishes tail excessively during work.

Many problems with back pain can be corrected with different forms of massage, cold laser therapy, acupuncture, and saddle adjustments.

A Big Improvement!

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Last week I wrote about a pony that competes in combined driving. He had recovered from an injury in a hind leg, but had severe pain in his back. Today I went back. The pain was better, but I still felt spasms at both attachments of the long back muscles. The forward attachment is by the withers. The other end attaches on either side of the sacrum. I applied deep pressure at all the spasms and alternated that with spreading the muscle fibers of the longissimus dorsi (back muscle) itself. After about 40 minutes, the pony started to hang his head and really relax. The pain seemed to be gone. The owner walked and trotted him out for me and he looked great. I will go back in 2 weeks for a check, but I think it is time for him to go back to work. I thought it might take six weeks to see this kind of recovery, but it just shows me how releasing spasms can provide tremendous relief.

Does Your Horse Have a Kissing Spine?

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Many horse owners believe that a diagnosis of “kissing spine” is career ending. It does not have to be. The condition occurs when the bony ‘spikes’ at the top of the horse’s vertebrae start to rub together, causing pain and swelling, especially when in motion. If the long back muscle is very contracted, it can pull the vertebrae together and cause pain. Kissing spine is most prevalent in dressage horses doing many collected movements, jumpers, and upper level event horses. Thoroughbreds seem to be predisposed to developing the problem.

Surgery and injections are often recommended, but I have seen horses recover with the following:

Spreading out the fibers of the tight muscles through massage is one way to allow the spine to return to a normal state. Teaching the horse how to raise his back by releasing the posterior pectoral muscle also helps. Cold laser is another way to ease pain and help relaxation. Proper saddle fitting is essential. Don’t overdo sitting trot. As in humans, it is always worth trying physical therapy solutions before surgery. Chiropractic treatment, cold laser, acupuncture, and massage have all been very effective in many cases.

Back Pain in Your Horse

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When there is a problem with back pain in your horse, the gluteus accessorius should be checked. This muscle works with the gluteus muscle in moving the hip and thigh. The stress point will be a knot felt near the pelvic crest. The horse will have a reaction when pressure is put on this stress point. Usually the rider will have noticed a shortened stride or discomfort in the hip and back. Since this is a stress point that seems to occur regularly during the competition season, it is one I always work on during a bodywork session, whether symptoms have developed or not.