Most pet owners know about vaccines, monthly preventive medicines, and surgeries to keep their pets in good health. “Rehabilitation” may be a less familiar—and less widely available—veterinary treatment option. At the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital, certified veterinary technician Kim Knap has delivered rehabilitation services since they were introduced here nearly 20 years ago.
“Rehabilitation is analogous to the field of physical therapy in human medicine,” Knap explains. “Physical therapy, however, is a protected term that can be used only in relation to a person trained as a physical therapist.”
Like physical therapy, the rehabilitation service not only helps patients realize a more complete recovery after surgery or an injury but also addresses chronic illnesses such as arthritis, obesity, and neurologic conditions that impair mobility.
Many Tools in the Rehabilitation Toolbox
Knap evaluates each patient’s needs and develops an individualized treatment plan. She treats animals from cats and horses to birds and some wildlife patients, but dogs make up the majority of her patients.
The forms of therapy at her disposal vary as much as the types of animals and conditions she sees. Many are manual therapies, such as passive range of motion exercises, or involve objects like a balance ball or structures that require patients to lift their feet up or navigate around poles. Other approaches include a land and an underwater treadmill.
Recently, shockwave therapy was added to her therapeutic options. “Shockwaves” are a type of sound wave that can be emitted by a machine and directed towards a tissue or area on the patient.
How Does Shockwave Therapy Work?
“These shockwaves stimulate cells to release healing processes, called growth factors, that work to reduce inflammation, increase circulation, and enhance bone and wound healing,” Knap explains. “It is cutting-edge technology in veterinary medicine, and we are thrilled to be one of only a handful of clinics in our area to offer this service.”
In other words, the shockwaves cause the patient’s body itself to speed up its own healing processes at the cellular level, which in turn contributes to tissue healing without the use of medications.
“Sound waves release higher energy than light and heat waves. Therefore, they penetrate tissue more deeply than other modalities and produce more powerful and long-lasting results,” Knap continues.
Treatment using shockwave therapy lasts roughly two to three minutes. Only one to three sessions, two weeks apart, are required to produce results that can last up to 13 months. This means that the treatment is quick and requires very few visits to the hospital. Even the jumpiest cat tolerates the treatment well.
“Shockwave therapy can promote enough pain relief and healing that surgical intervention may not be required and reduction of pain medications may even be possible,” says Knap.
Donors Fund New Tool
For the past three years, Knap and the rehabilitation service had been soliciting donations to enable them to acquire shockwave technology. Recently, a generous donation from Debbie and Rich Bernardoni, longtime friends of the service and the teaching hospital, made the purchase possible.
“We are excited to offer a non-invasive technology that has such potential for lasting results,” Knap says. “There has been a fair amount of clinical research studying the safety and efficacy of this technology.
“Who can benefit from shockwave therapy? Any patients suffering from conditions such as osteoarthritis, tendon and ligament injuries, fractures, wounds, and chronic pain.”
What Is Pulsed Signal Therapy?
While shockwave therapy uses special sound waves to jumpstart the body’s healing process, pulsed signal therapy uses a strong magnetic field to act as a signal to communicate with the body and begin the repair process within cartilage and bone.
“The body and its tissues have a low-power electrical signal that is natural and normal. These signals in a normal tissue tell the body to repair, heal, or replace cells,” Knap explains. “However, when the body or tissue is damaged, either acutely with an injury or due to chronic use and aging, those signals fall out of alignment.” Pulsed signal therapy replaces those lost signals.
The therapy is administered within a chamber that can treat any animal under 200 pounds. Like shockwave therapy, pulsed signal therapy is non-invasive, painless, and low stress. The protocol involves a series of nine treatments.
Conditions That Benefit from Pulsed Signal Therapy
“Like other approaches in rehab, pulsed signal therapy is one of the tools in our toolbox, so to speak,” says Knap. “The types of cases I will most seriously consider for this treatment are pets with severe arthritis in multiple joints and severe mobility issues that have failed other treatments.
“It’s also useful for patients that initially did well with more traditional treatments but are declining in time. And I love pulsed signal therapy for our chronic slowly progressive neurologic conditions.”
The rehabilitation service at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital has many success stories this therapy.
“I have had this unit many years and I have seen many end-stage arthritic cases have a quick and profound change in mobility and quality of life beyond anything we had used prior,” exclaims Knap. “In addition, this treatment has been shown to have lasting effects. Any treatment that can deliver those results is valuable.”
To learn more about rehabilitation services for veterinary patients, ask your local veterinarian or visit the website of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
By Lauren Bryan
