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Originally Posted by matese  Veterinary medicine is experiencing a culture shift in the treatment of http://www.veterinarypracticenews.co...puncturespinal cord injury and disk disease With more veterinarians incorporating integrative physical medicine treatments (i.e., acupuncture, laser therapy and rehabilitation) into their practices, the standards of care for spinal cord injury could well be changing. [B]Research is illustrating that the standard approaches of surg.ery, cage rest or steroids no longer have a rock-solid grasp as the best or only options.
Cage rest, for example, has no evidence in favor but is accruing evidence against. This includes the physical (not to mention, mental and emotional) deterioration brought about by living in a small box with little movement or freedom day after day.1
As stated by the authors of a recent paper on immobilization in paraplegics, “Mechanical loading and movement are essential for the maintenance of the integrity of skeletal tissues including articular structures and cartilage. Prolonged immobilization after spinal cord injury (SCI) has been suggested to be a cause of contractures, periarticular osteoporosis, heterotopic ossification, osteoarthritis and periarticular connective tissue alterations. Lower extremity articular cartilage needs some regimen of joint loading and motion to maintain its native physical and biochemical properties.
As more becomes known about the drawbacks of forced stillness, why do we continue to keep dogs from benefiting from assisted stands and slow, careful walking? Surely, we should be able to monitor and modulate their exercise with sufficient supervision and instruction to keep them moving and strong while they heal. |
I am a wee bit confused by this post. Are these your thoughts or a combination of a web post and your thoughts...or just a web post? The link you shared does not work so I cannot quite figure it out.
I posted on your thread yesterday about strict crate rest being the standard for IVDD and I guess this is your response because you wish to justify why crate rest was not mentioned in addition to the strychnine ( some Chinese "herb" ) your vet recommended?? I don't care what you do with your pup, but I am posting here for anyone interested. IVDD is a very serious condition.
I don't believe ANY reputable veterinarian would advise against crate rest on a dog with IVDD (which is what I was referring to and thought perhaps your pup had). I spend a lot of time at the veterinary hospital/specialists and I can tell you that I have seen no change in recommendations for the care of a pup with IVDD. A friend of mine just had a pup at the neurologist recently for IVDD. Crate rest does NOT mean "living in a small box with little movement or freedom day after day". The objective of crate rest is to be sure that a pup does not reinjure him/herself and end up in worse shape. The possibility of paralysis is always there with spinal issues. It is advised that they are leash walked when out of the crate .. or otherwise prevented from running and jumping. They are not going to LIVE there. If a person can keep a pup with them 24/7 then I suppose a crate isn't needed; but, I would definitely either crate rest or find a small area where they could not jump up or down when I was not able to closely supervise. Paralysis is only a hot minute away from happening sometimes and then there often is no going back. I think a short time in the life of a pup spent in a crate to be healthy and prevent possible paralysis is better than a lifetime of paralysis because someone thought they would suffer some unimaginable harm from being in a crate to prevent injury.