WHAT TO EXPECT FROM YOUR APPOINTMENT
ASSESSMENT
You will be asked lots of questions about your animal's day-to-day activities, routine and medical history. A full gait analysis will also be performed on your animal, alongside a palpation and range of motion assessment to determine how they move and what they feel like.
Findings from these assessments will be used alongside clinical reasoning to create and prioritise treatment plans.
Slow motion video recording is used to help establish any gait abnormalities and these files will be retained on record for future comparisons.
TREATMENT
Your animal's treatment will depend on what is identified during assessment, by asking questions and how they respond throughout the session. Treatments may therefore vary across time as well as between animals but may include:
- Manual therapies such as massage, mobilisations, myofascial / trigger point release, rhythmic stabilisations and stretching.
- Electrotherapies, including laser (phototherapy), therapeutic ultrasound, pulsed magnetic field therapy (PMFT) and heat (thermotherapy).
REASSESSMENT
NP Vet Physio will reassess various measures, for example by performing movements, feeling tissues or by asking to see your animal move again.
Reassessment helps inform how your animal has responded to treatment and therefore helps to determine appropriate plans of action and timelines for seeing them again.
EXERCISE PRESCRIPTION AND ADVICE
Each animal will be given individual exercise plans tailored to their requirements, taking owner / carer circumstances into consideration. Owners will be provided with electronic versions of their exercise prescription plans and exercises will be demonstrated to you to ensure you are happy and comfortable with them.
Exercise prescription will help prolong treatment benefits and optimise your animal's recovery during rehabilitation in addition to promoting suppleness, appropriate muscle tone, core strength, proprioception, joint health and improved performance.
Additionally, each animal's home environment will be assessed and advice given to optimise their daily routine where appropriate and feasible. Small management changes can make a huge difference to animals' progress and wellbeing and are often extremely simple to implement.