Manual therapies

Applied in every treatment as seen clinically appropriate.

Massage

Massage allows for warming and relaxation of muscles with hands on understanding of how the muscles are responding. Massage can be used for recovery post exercise, rehabilitation of unused muscles, and also to maintain used muscles in athletes. Massage is often the initial treatment in each session as it provides the foundation of how the session will progress, it also allows for the animal to build a relationship with the physiotherapist and trust the benefits of future treatments.

Passive range of motion

The range of motion of a joint is the amount of movement within a joint, passive range of motion involves moving the joint through these the normal movements of the joint. In the initial stages of healing moving the joint can be used to re educate the musculature and joint into moving correctly again. It is also beneficial for maintaining mobility if animals are subject to box or cage rest.

Stretches

Stretches lengthen the muscles that are involved with stabilising the movement being held. Stretches are beneficial for rehabilitation to stimulate and reduce tension in muscles. They are also beneficial for performance enhancement and maintaining muscle health, especially during warmup and cooldown of exercise.