Physical Therapy

Our goal at Kentlands Veterinary Hospital is to provide our patients with
access to the same safe, effective, and noninvasive physical therapy modalities that are widely used in human medicine to ease pain, speed recovery, and maximize performance.

We tailor the treatment to the needs of the individual patient, and provide
guidance and recommendations for home care. We also provide weight management and conditioning programs.

Rehabilitation services are provided by Dr. David Handel, DVM, CVA, CCRP and Jessica Lorey, CCRP

Jessica Lorey, C.C.R.P.
Jessica attended Penn State University, where she received her Bachelor's of Science degree in Animal Bioscience. Animals have always been a large part of Jessica's life. She grew up riding and showing horses around Pennsylvania and now has an Old English Bulldog named Nittany. Jessica is certified in Canine Rehabilitation by the University of Tennessee. She is very passionate about physical rehabilitation and has helped a number of animals to successful recoveries and has helped improve many animals' quality of life. Jessica enjoys spending her free time with her husband, Ryan and also with Nittany. She enjoys attending Penn State football games and spending time with her husband.

Why Choose Physical Rehabilitation for Your Pet?

Physical rehabilitation plays an important role in veterinary patients recovering from bone, joint, and muscular injuries, neurologic disorders, and surgery. Our goal is to improve mobility, manage pain, improve strength, and enhance the quality of life of companion animals.

Candidates for Rehabilitation:

• Post-operative orthopedics
• Tendon and ligament injuries
• Spinal cord injuries
• Gait abnormalities
• Post fractures
• Herniated discs
• Degenerative neurological problems
• Arthritis
• Obesity and poor conditioning
• Muscular degeneration
• Inflammation and swelling

Evaluation
It is critical for most patients to begin rehabilitation as soon as possible after surgery or injury. Our staff will meet with you and your pet to thoroughly evaluate your pet’s current condition and develop a comprehensive, personalized, treatment plan.


REHABILITATION TREATMENT OPTIONS & SERVICES AVAILABLE

Passive Range of Motion Therapy and Strengthening Exercises

• Improves joint mobility
• Build muscle
• Prevent further injuries

Exercises are an important part of the rehabilitation services we provide. An exercise may be as simple as doing passive-range-of-motion (PROM) to improve or maintain a joint's flexibility, to ambulation exercises to retrain an animal to walk. Exercises are often devised specifically for each individual patient, so it is difficult to explain all the exercises we may prescribe for a patient. Here are some general types of exercise that we perform:

• Passive range of motion (PROM) exercises increase nutrition availability at the joint cartilage, stimulate new cartilage production, and is used to increase range of motion at the joint.
• Stretching exercises increase circulation and muscle flexibility.
• Proprioceptive exercises are exercises used to help the animal know where their feet are in space.
• Strengthening exercises (stairs, land treadmill, sit/stands, etc.) are used to strengthen individual muscles or muscle groups.
• Weight shifting exercises are exercises used to help the animal shift their weight to the affected limb or side to make the animal walk more balanced.

• Ambulation exercises are exercises used to reeducate a paretic animal (severe loss of function of their limbs) how to walk

 Treadmill Therapy

• Increases muscle strength
• Increases endurance and balance
• Improves cardiovascular health

The treadmill is used to increase strength, balance and coordination. This form of therapy, has advantages such as the stimulation of bone growth and strengthening as well as the ability to vary the rate of incline and decline. This allows for concentration of effort on specific muscle groups. Treadmill therapy can be more beneficial at certain stages of post-joint surgery rehabilitation (ie cruciates, hips, elbows).

Ultrasound Therapy

• Produces local heating of deeper tissues
• Improves range of motion
  

Therapeutic ultrasound is the use of sound waves which are passed through tissue creating certain physiological effects. Though the handheld probe looks similar to a diagnostic ultrasound probe (ie the ones doctors use to see a fetus) this unit operates at a different frequency and does not receive information back like the diagnostic ultrasound. Therapeutic ultrasound used together with medication is termed phonophoresis. Phonophoresis delivers the medication through the skin, which allows the delivery at the local level, reducing side affects related to oral or injectable delivery. The uses of therapeutic ultrasound include:

• Increasing circulation
• Increasing contractility of muscle fibers (to increase range of motion)
• Decreasing scar tissue
• Decreasing pain and muscle spasm
• Decreasing inflammation
• Accelerating wound healing

Electrical Stimulation Therapy

• Prevents muscle loss
• Reduces swelling and edema
• Pain management

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) is the application of a low level electrical current which results in a muscle contraction. This is achieved by placing electrodes at the beginning and end of the muscle. These muscle contractions can be used to mimic strength training for animals that are non-weight bearing or have limited use of a muscle or muscle group. NMES is used to prevent atrophy post surgery or injury, or to increase strength for muscles that have been chronically underutilized. NMES is commonly used in paretic dogs or dogs post surgically before they are weight bearing and during reeducation of ambulation.

Massage Therapy and Cryotherapy

• Increases muscle mobility
• Pain management
• Reduces inflammation

Why Canine Massage?

Dogs are just like people. During their lifetime they will experience aches and pains, injuries and emotional upsets. Even if your dog has never suffered an injury, massage can be beneficial. Massage therapy can alleviate muscle spasms caused by injury or geriatric dogs.

For the aging dog massage can make them feel special and the extra time spent with them strengthens the bond you both have. Massage will benefit even the fittest dog; improving their fitness and flexibility and improving muscle tone.

What is Canine Massage?

Therapeutic massage involves the manipulation of the soft tissue structures of the body to prevent and alleviate symptoms that may be associated with trauma, degenerative changes or behavioral issues such as:

• Pain
• Discomfort
• Muscle Spasm
• Stress

Massage therapy improves the functioning of the circulatory, lymphatic, muscular, skeletal, and nervous systems and may improve the rate at which the body recovers.

Massage therapy can be used in conjunction with other therapies including:

• Physical Therapy
• Acupuncture
• Chiropractic
• Surgery

These modalities have many benefits. Cryotherapy decreases nerve conduction velocity (which decreases pain perception) and decreases the rate of cytokine release (which decreases inflammation). In addition, it causes vasoconstriction (decreased blood flow) followed by a rebound vasodilation (increased blood flow). When used immediately after surgery or an injury, cryotherapy decreases bleeding at the surface and deep in the tissue.

Heat Therapy

• Improves muscle flexibility
• Increases the collagen's (healing tissue) ability to stretch
• Increases blood flow
• Decreases pain
• Increases enzyme activity (which speeds healing)
• Increases muscle contractility and stretching capability

Like cryotherapy, heat therapy overall is used to decrease pain and inflammation and speed healing. The difference is that cryotherapy is used by itself during phase 1 inflammation, and heat therapy is typically used along with cryotherapy during phase 2 inflammation. Heat therapy should be used no earlier than 72 hours post-surgery or injury.

Laser Light Therapy

Laser Light Therapy is the most researched and published modality in physical rehabilitation and has demonstrated a multitude of clinical benefits that include relieving pain from minor muscular and joint aches, pain and stiffness associated with arthritis, relaxing muscle spasms and increasing local blood circulation.

Combination Therapy

• Acupuncture
• Chiropractic