Laurie's Blogs.

I had a patient in last week.  A 6-month-old Portuguese Water Dog puppy.  He had SIJ pain and dysfunction, and pelvic asymmetry.  Now, this is a puppy I’ve been following since he came to this owner at approximately 2ish months of age.  So, I can tell you, that last month he was not asymmetric and did not have SIJ pain.  I worked on his SIJ, but it took many tries, and a myriad of different techniques until I was able to reduce the pain and improve the symmetry of the pelvis.  At the end of the appointment, the owner remarked how amazing it was that he needed so much work because from all she could tell, he was not in pain or showing any signs of dysfunction / soreness / lameness.  She was glad she was bringing him regularly for us to check him out as he grows.

A couple things come to light with this this case:

1)Puppies are hard on their bodies.  Things can change from month to month and their ‘exuberance for life’ might mask any discomfort they might be experiencing.

2)Because puppies are growing so rapidly, a minor issue can be compounded due to bone growth and muscles not ‘keeping up’ in the flexibility department.  In human studies, some researchers have identified the highest risk for adolescence for developing low back pain was during growth spurts.

3)I love to look at pelvis symmetry, and I look first to the SIJ as the root cause.  However, one must not discredit the function of muscle length / tension on the whole of the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex.  So, don’t forget to check on flexibility of the iliopsoas, tension in the quadratus lumborum, strength of the gluteals and abdominals, and lengthening ability of the hamstrings.  Compare them from side to side and get used to feeling for normal, so you will be alerted to an abnormal when you feel it!

4)Pelvis asymmetry in the absence of SIJ or piriformis pain… you need to look at other structures such as the lumbar spine or soft tissues.  Don’t get ‘hung up’ on asymmetry unless you can find a pain or dysfunction.

5)And just a fun fact:  Human studies have shown that leg length discrepancies are not associated with low back pain, and equine studies find the same thing.  I just wanted to throw that out there.

6)I believe (and have seen over my nearly ¼ of a century in animal rehab practice) that puppies with back pain or chronic orthopaedic pain, can grow to have abnormal or undesirable conformation as well as movement compensations.

So, a head to toe puppy evaluation on a monthly basis is not unwarranted!  Put those manual assessment skills to good use while cuddling a puppy!  #BestJobEver