I first met Jasper in September 2022 after he received a diagnosis of Osteoarthritis
in his hips. He had always been an active dog and had managed long 8 mile walks well. His owner noticed that he was getting a bit stiff so had reduced his walks to under a mile three times a day, but was still stiff after a walk. He wasn’t even able to manage a mile a day.
On visiting the vet about his stiff joints, Jasper was placed on Gabapentin and Onsior to be taken daily. Jaspers owner wanted to do more to help than mask his pain, as she was concerned that masking with medication wouldn’t help to keep his muscles healthy and protect his joints, meaning he may experience a faster onset of arthritis progression. She also started him on joint supplements to help manage his arthritis.
Jasper settled into his sessions really well (the snacks provided also helped!). The tightness over his hips released easily, and after a couple of weekly sessions his owner felt he was comfortable enough to drop his medication, leaving him on just his joint supplements. His massage sessions have also been reduced to every three or four weeks to help maintain him.
Myotherapy massage encourages the bodies own immune system to drain away the inflammation, and provide fresh oxygen to help maintain muscle health. This encourages appropriate muscle use to try and prevent muscle wastage and inappropriate posture, which can also cause pain. We also measure Jaspers muscles to make he isn’t favouring one leg over the other. By performing muscle mass measurements, it gives a good indication on how he is using his body. It also means that we can catch any muscle mass loss before it becomes an issue and add in a strengthening therapy (for example hydrotherapy) if needed.
Jasper is coping much better on his walks and now very rarely shows stiffness. Just the other day he managed a very long walk of 8 miles with no adverse effects! His exercise is carefully regulated by his owner, making sure he doesn’t do too much. While out and about, Jasper has been getting comments on how well he is walking now.
Currently the only management Jasper needs for his arthritis is joint supplements daily, and massage every 3-4 weeks to maintain him. No other medication is needed!
Jasper is the perfect example of how holistic, complementary therapies really can work to manage pain. He is a pleasure to treat and always greets me at the door with a wagging tail and a big cuddle 😊