ServicesWhat is chiropractic?
What is the chiropractic adjustment?
What types of problems can chiropractic treat?
How does chiropractic treatment work?
Is chiropractic safe?
Does it hurt?
How many chiropractic treatments will be needed?
Chiropractic is a modality focusing on neuromusculoskeletal disorders. Treatment is aimed at restoring normal joint motion and muscle tone by providing an adjustment to the animal’s body.
What is the chiropractic adjustment?
An adjustment is a high velocity thrust on a specific joint given by hand or an instrument to restore normal motion to the joint. The treatment goal is to relieve pain, to restore normal posture and muscle tone, and to improve flexibility.
What types of problems can chiropractic treat?
Many lameness, behavioral, and performance problems can be treated successfully with chiropractic. If your animal can’t run, jump or move in his usual manner, it is possible chiropractic treatment could help. There is no list of exact problems that always respond to chiropractic but common conditions or symptoms that tend to respond include:
Back or neck pain
Lameness
Stiffness
Abnormal body posture such as neck held low or back hunched
Difficulty getting up or lying down
Gait abnormalities such as bunny hopping, pacing, not tracking straight
Muscle loss or weakness in one or more limbs
Behavior problems such as head tossing or unwillingness to go forward
Others (email me about your animal if you do not see the condition listed here!)
An adjustment restores normal muscle tone and joint motion. Special receptors in muscles, tendons, and joints convey messages to the central nervous system (spinal cord and brain) about the state of muscle tension. Restoring normal posture and motion is a central therapeutic goal across all types of manual therapy, including osteopathy, massage, and chiropractic. Chiropractic primarily uses a high velocity thrust to achieve results.
For most musculoskeletal disorders of animals, chiropractic treatment probably has less risk than that associated with common medical and surgical treatments for these conditions. There is no published data on the safety of animal chiropractic treatment. In human patients, chiropractic (like all medicine) does have documented risks. Statistically rare complications have been reported. The most common side effect is localized muscle soreness. If a practitioner is not familiar with veterinary anatomy, or if the animal is nervous and moves around or stiffens its muscles during the treatment, soft tissue or joint trauma may occur. It is important that your animal feels comfortable with the practitioner and is relaxed during the treatment. There are some gentle chiropractic techniques that do not use manual thrusts, and these may be more appropriate for a tense or scared animal.
A veterinary examination prior to chiropractic treatment is important to identify patients that might be harmed by chiropractic. For example if your pet has a fracture or a tumor, chiropractic treatment in affected areas is contraindicated.
Professionally trained doctors know how to assess pain and reduce the chances of painful adjustments without medication. If a manual adjustment is too painful for your animal, I will use a gentle instrument-assisted method or apply a different treatment such as acupuncture or laser.
How many chiropractic treatments will be needed?
Depending on the nature of the condition some animals need only one or two chiropractic treatment, others need more. I usually recommend two treatments, one week apart. After that we will continue or change the treatment plan based on your animal’s response. Many owners find that routine maintenance helps their animals perform well. This may be as frequently as once a month or as infrequently as twice per year.