Laurie's Blogs.

Good evening Laurie

Firstly can I just say thank you for helping me survive my exams to become a fully fledged animal physiotherapist (I only passed on Friday!) ... I found your tutorials and presentations really helpful and inspiring. I guess it is the latter that has prompted me to contact you.... I hope you don't mind! 

I am the proud owner of a 3 month old British bulldog.... I can imagine your dismay at a Physio who should know better choosing such a breed(!!) but I vowed that from the day I got her she would learn to use her nose, swim from a young age to protect those precious bones as well as to keep her fit and lean. It was the Physio pledge!! That was until yesterday when she sustained a fall from a significant height (4-5 feet). It was a circumstance completely out of my control but none the less I have been left devastated at the impact this may have on her health long term. That heavy head of hers ultimately meant she landed neck and back 1st in a horribly contorted position. You can imagine her screams. She has been ambulatory since the fall and appears to have full limb and neck movement. She has appropriate paw replacement. She is extremely sore in the back - in her paraspinals from thoracic spine through to her sacrum. We decided to monitor her and nursed her but her breathing started to become laboured and she was shaking with pain, particularly when trying to change position. She has always been uncoordinated behind.... This doesn't look much worse than normal! We took her to the vets this morning and she was much more settled on her arrival and the vet was hopeful that she hasn't broken anything ..... I am praying for this to be the case. I apologise for all my waffle but I get the impression from your website that you love your dogs as much as I and I will do anything to help speed her recovery. If that means getting in touch with the best in the business, that's what il do!!! 

I have very little knowledge really about treating puppies and really don't know what I should be expecting from a recovery perspective. I am petrified that trauma to the spine like this may make the incidence of disc pathology more likely - do you have any experience of this? I am reluctant to do any myofascial work at this early stage as I assume it will be both too sore and potentially a protective mechanism? Any advice / expertise would be greatly appreciated and I thank you sincerely for taking the time to read my email. I am also really excited about reading your work regarding preventing hip dysplasia! This could also be very useful for me! 

Keep up the good work 😃

Kind regards

F. 

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Hi F.!

Congratulations on becoming an Animal Physio!  It's a very rewarding career.

AND, I am so sorry for all of the angst you must be going through with your dog right now.  But the good news is that she has been walking!

Now, I imagine that she has changed / improved over the last week... so bear with me if some of my advice is now 'dated'!

Hopefully nothing is broken.  If it is, then you just have to wait for healing (but could do laser therapy, high frequency TENS, or PEMF as therapy options - if the site is accessible).

If there is no fracture, then you slowly start to treat what you find... within the dog's pain tolerance.  The therapies above could be useful in this scenario as well...  and you may want to choose gentle myofascial work or manual therapy work (i.e. grade 1 - 2 mobs) at ribs / spine... etc, as needed.  If nothing is broken, then you just use the dog's own tolerance to let you know how much you can do.  Some discomfort is okay (and to be expected)... outright pain is not.

Active exercises (i.e. simple cookie stretches) could also be an easy thing to engage in at this stage.

And if she's less painful, then some simple balancing exercises (i.e. 3-leg standing) could help with recruitment of stabilizing muscles (i.e multifidus & abdominals).  

If no rib or vertebra damage has been done (i.e. no fractures), and she's comfortable when you try it, then do some lateral costal expansion techniques, timed with exhalations (i.e. compress the lower ribcage as she exhales and release rapidly) to facilitate deeper breathing.  Same would apply to a diaphragm release.  (See the video for the diaphragm release).

Don't fret too much about the future.  She's young, which is very much in her favour.  Young people and young dogs seem to have healing mechanisms that older animals (such as me, and my SIJ for example) do not.  Deal with the dog in front of you, and go from there!

Best of luck!

Cheers,

Laurie