Re: Spinal Trauma

[Guest guest]

If you havent used Alpha-Stim across the back and legs I would initiate. Teach clients to use at home BID.

Ava Frick, DVMHartz 2006 Veterinarian of the Year Runner UpVeterinary Medical Director, EPI, Inc. Animal Fitness Centerwww.avafrick.comphone: fax:

Spinal Trauma

I have a 5 year old lab mix that was HBC a few months back. She had several orthopedic surgeries to both rear leg that have healed wonderfully. The main problem now is that she sustained some type of spinal trauma when she was hit. She can feel both legs and has voluntary movement. She is currently in a cart to help her move around. She has recently started to crawl at home and is rubbing some major sores on her legs which prevents up from putting her in the underwater treadmill. When we use the Walk about harness to do assisted standing she can bear 5-10% of her weight on her rear legs. Does anyone have any suggestions on other things we can do to help encourage her to walk on her own? Or any suggestions on how to prevent the sores from crawling? Thank you!

[Guest guest]

I would suggest controlling her physical life more. If she is not supervised in a cart, held up by a sling or in the UWTM, ext. she should probably be on a very soft bed in a small confined area. Rub sores are a nursing/ management problem. Plus, the more she is aloud to successfully drag herself around the harder it will be for you to convince her that standing and walking, harder tasks, are the things she needs to do to get around and function. Its ok I think for dogs with voluntary motor to drag a little, as long as they are stable, but defiantly not ok if they are doing it so much that they have sores deep enough to keep them out of a UWTM.

Also I am not sure of the extent of the spinal trauma that you have noted. Though generally I see most surgeons cage rest for a minimum of 8 weeks for spinal fracture and at least 4 weeks for PO hemi lam. Too much exercise in neuro patients can lead to more micro trauma and or retard recovery.

Robby

J Porter III, VT, LMT, CCRPAnimal Rehabilitation CenterMandeville, LA70448

To: VetRehab Sent: Thu, January 14, 2010 12:18:33 PMSubject: Re: Spinal Trauma

If you havent used Alpha-Stim across the back and legs I would initiate. Teach clients to use at home BID.

Ava Frick, DVMHartz 2006 Veterinarian of the Year Runner UpVeterinary Medical Director, EPI, Inc. Animal Fitness Centerwww.avafrick. comphone: fax:

Spinal Trauma

I have a 5 year old lab mix that was HBC a few months back. She had several orthopedic surgeries to both rear leg that have healed wonderfully. The main problem now is that she sustained some type of spinal trauma when she was hit. She can feel both legs and has voluntary movement. She is currently in a cart to help her move around. She has recently started to crawl at home and is rubbing some major sores on her legs which prevents up from putting her in the underwater treadmill. When we use the Walk about harness to do assisted standing she can bear 5-10% of her weight on her rear legs. Does anyone have any suggestions on other things we can do to help encourage her to walk on her own? Or any suggestions on how to prevent the sores from crawling? Thank you!

[Guest guest]

You can look into Dogg-legs for protect the skin and make sure she is on a padded/soft surface at home to avoid the abrasions. As for the standing and walking, I start with doing a lot of supported standing over a Theraball and have them reach up, to the side and start to take 1-2 steps as able. Also working on the fundamentals--lateral recumbancy up to sternal from both sides, sternal to sit and sit to stand, with assistance as needed. This works the proximal musculature and is giving input to the spine and brain for "normal patterning". Hope this helps!

Bedenbaugh, PT, CCRP

Spinal Trauma

I have a 5 year old lab mix that was HBC a few months back. She had several orthopedic surgeries to both rear leg that have healed wonderfully. The main problem now is that she sustained some type of spinal trauma when she was hit. She can feel both legs and has voluntary movement. She is currently in a cart to help her move around. She has recently started to crawl at home and is rubbing some major sores on her legs which prevents up from putting her in the underwater treadmill. When we use the Walk about harness to do assisted standing she can bear 5-10% of her weight on her rear legs. Does anyone have any suggestions on other things we can do to help encourage her to walk on her own? Or any suggestions on how to prevent the sores from crawling? Thank you!