ABSTRACT
Addressing poor performance issues in horses is a common yet challenging request to veterinarians. Often, there are limited field diagnostic or therapy choices. Growing lay popularity in integrative therapies, as well as increasing clinical incorporation, is creating more awareness of their clinical applications. Many modalities are showing increasing evidence of positive outcomes with minimal harm, but additional safety and efficacy evaluation is needed. Integrative modalities have unique ways of perceiving disease patterns that are different from more modern approaches, and these different perspectives can be used diagnostically and therapeutically either combined with more conventional approaches, or when those approaches fall short.
Subject(s)
Complementary Therapies , Horse Diseases , Integrative Medicine , Animals , Horses , Complementary Therapies/veterinary , Horse Diseases/diagnosis , Horse Diseases/therapyABSTRACT
Acupuncture is one of the most common veterinary integrative medicine modalities. Acupuncture can greatly contribute to a rehabilitation protocol by promoting analgesia, tissue healing, and muscle strength. Acupuncture is safe, has minimal detrimental side effects, and is well tolerated by most horses.
Subject(s)
Acupuncture Therapy/veterinary , Analgesia/veterinary , Horse Diseases/therapy , Pain Management/veterinary , Pain/veterinary , Animals , Horses , Pain/rehabilitation , Pain Management/methodsABSTRACT
This case describes the selective use of digital infrared thermal imaging for a 48-year-old woman who was being treated by a physical therapist following left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with a semitendinosus autograft.
