Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Flashcards
What is physiotherapy?
Use of physical techniques that have a direct impact of healing tissues and exercises that promote proprioceptive learning with some overlap between the two
Who are physiotherapists and what do they do?
Nurses/vets with specific experience and training or qualified physiotherapists with animal experience and/or holders of a conversion qualification
Work under the instruction of a veterinary surgeon once the vet has seen and diagnosed the condition
What is important to tell the client prior to physiotherapy treatment starting?
Cycle of examination, therapy and re-examination
If this isn’t made clear they can think that you don’t know what you’re doing
What is massage used for?
Pain relief
Used on limbs with decreased motility due to mechanical restriction/post surgery/disease
Preventative
Relaxation and improved circulation and lymphatic drainage
What is massage often used in conjunction with as a warm up?
Range-of-movement exercises
What are the disadvantages of massage?
Time consuming and physically demanding on the therapist
What are some different massage techniques used?
Stroking = hands move proximal to distal
Effleurage = hands move distal to proximal with medium pressure
Compression and wringing = higher pressure targeted at individual muscles, compress and hold for 15 seconds
Percussion = cupped hand/hacking over areas of increased tone with specific attention to spasmic nodules
What effect does cryotherapy have?
Constricts vessels and provides analgesia
What are the advantages of cryotherapy?
Can be used even if the patient isn’t ambulatory
Most effective at managing acute inflammation
How long should cryotherapy be applied for?
20 minutes
What are the methods of performing cryotherapy?
Plastic bag with water/ice mix Cryogel packs Jackets and filler flasks Ice bath emersion Vapour coolant
What is important to look out for when performing cryotherapy?
Frostbite
What effect does thermotherapy have?
Constricts vessels and provides analgesia
What are the advantages of thermotherapy?
It can be used when the patient isn’t ambulatory
Once initial swelling has decreased heat helps vasodilation
What are the disadvantages of thermotherapy?
Will make swelling, heat and pain worse
What can be used to apply thermotherapy?
Heat packs or hot water bottles
What are range of motion (ROM) and stretching used for?
Diminish the effects of dissuse and immobility by increasing limb flexibility, improving ROM of joints, reducing adhesions and thickening around joints and improving muscle extension
How quickly do ROM and stretching work?
Expect small gains to occur slowly but effectively
When can passive ROM start to be used? What needs to be considered prior to starting treatment?
Early before the patient wants to stand
Ensure the animal is under analgesia and possibly sedated
Therapist supports the limb, isolates the joint and flexes and extends repeatedly to the limit of the ROM or all joints put through ROM together
How often can passive ROM be performed?
15-20 repetitions, 2-4 times a day
What is active assisted ROM?
Once patient starts to walk/in a pool therapist manually assists limb movement to encourage patient to use fuller ROM
When is active ROM used?
If patients are walking or trotting more normally but not using full ROM
What is active ROM?
Change exercise to encourage full ROM, for example, walking in water
How does stretching differ from ROM exercises? What functions does it perform?
Involves taking joint past the normal ROM
Designed to oppose shortening of tissues
Breaks down fibrosis and adhesion
