Shockwave! Whiskey gets a dose of sound
Acoustic-wave therapy for joints and muscles made an early difference in Lab's treatment
If ever you watched a veterinarian work on your dog and wondered if the treatment actually is helping—and of course you have if you own a dog that doesn’t talk—then you know where I was with shockwave therapy.
I’d like to say I walked into the Animal Acupuncture clinic on South Peoria Ave. with complete confidence that we finally would have answers about the lameness in Whiskey’s right rear leg and that the treatments, physical therapy and natural supplements would bring him around.
But it was more like a fervent hope.
I’ve already written about the eye-opening experience with a stance analyzer and digital thermography but the truth is I still didn’t fully understand what Dr. Heather Owen and her team had in store for Whiskey.
Let me be clear, Dr. Owen and her staff have incredible patience and they go the extra mile to help their patient’s owners understand what’s going on. It was just a lot of new anatomical lingo and new terminology to absorb.
Shockwave therapy success first showed in Whiskey’s flexibility in his hindquarters by the third week, shortly after which he managed to do something to his right front shoulder and we were in for another set of shockwaves. By the fifth week we had been through two sets of shockwave therapy. I honestly haven’t written about it until now because I was still a little unsure—not so much about the therapy but about Whiskey’s condition.
That said, I really thought I noticed a difference in his rear legs early on, after just the first couple of treatments. Measurement sessions proved that to be true and his evaluations continue to show improvement.
In my last entry I didn’t mention the goniometric (GO-nee-a-metric) measurements that are part of his evaluations.
So, what the hell is that? Right?
Those are measurements of range of motion through joints that allow extension of certain limbs. Anyone who has watched a dog run full-out or watched those high jumping water dogs has seen how the rear legs extend to the point they almost look straight.
Whiskey’s measurements showed his hind legs lacked that flexibility, and the right flexed even less than the left. As the vet techs worked on him they explained normal flex/extension of that Stiple (knee) joint is 160 to 165 degrees. His initial measurements hit in the range of 140 to 145.
His first detailed medical evaluation from Dr. Owen listed issues with stifle extension, tarsal flexion, secondary patella desmitis and a right sartorius trigger point, among other things.
I printed out the report, turned to Google, and found a lot of references with canine skeletal and muscular illustrations that made me go, “hmm.” I should note that I also quickly learned that shockwave therapy has been used in human physical therapy treatments for a long time.
What it boiled down to in my simplistic way of comparing Whiskey’s issues to my own body (which is probably wrong-headed), was that the joints and muscles in his thighs, butt, groin and knees were extremely tight and that he had some arthritis that exacerbated everything along with his old ACL injuries.
I imagined Whiskey as a skinny, otherwise fit, 40-something dude walking around with permanently bent knees and one leg compensating for the other. Instead of crutches or a cane Whiskey used his front legs.
So, enter the shockwave therapy. I must emphasize it was only one part of a range of treatments and exercises that I’ll explain in other entries, but shockwave was at the heart of the first go-‘round.
A pamphlet from the clinic on the PiezoWave2 VET Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy machine provided the how-it-works line: “... ESWT is a non-invasive procedure for the treatment of acute and chronic pain of the musculoskeletal system. The PiezoWave Vet delivers mechanical energy—not light, electrical or thermal energy.”
The treatments are said to increase blood flow, help with flexibility and reduce pain not just temporarily as the treatment is underway but with lasting effect.
I surmised that his joints and muscles would be thumped and moved by sound—kind of like a teenaged me at a Doobie Brothers concert complete with the ill-gotten Budweiser and second-hand blaze but with a longer lasting effect—and no headache or nausea.
The machine and the wand used to deliver the sound waves looked a lot like the sonogram machine my urologist uses to look at whatever it is they look at under my belt line every year before all that other unpleasantness they claim is necessary around back.
They lube up the wand with gel, apply it to the target muscle or joint area and the machine makes a clicking sound as the monitor counts up, tick-tick-tick-tick-tick. They hit Whiskey’s rear legs with 1,000 thumps on the left rear Sartorius muscle, 1,000 on the right Sartorius and 1,000 on his right Stifle joint during four sessions spaced a few days apart.
On a human that’s like getting treatments on your knee (the stifle) and the Sartorius, a key muscle that runs across the front of your thigh through the knee joint to your tibia. With a dog the connections between the lower spine and lower leg are quite a bit different, but it’s the same general principle.
Look at me being all anatomically correct. (I think)
Our veterinary technician said the treatment feels a little like someone snapping a rubber band against your skin and, depending on the dog’s reaction, she adjusts the power level up or down.
For the first treatment Whiskey was a little unsure and he buried his face between my leg and a wall like a little kid in for his first vaccination shots. He quickly turned his head to look at his hindquarter at the first “clicks,” so he definitely noticed the new sensation, but that was his only reaction.
Whiskey loves contact with anyone so eventually he was excited to get his Shockwave treatments with his new friends.
The treatments have a lasting effect so we had the option to spread them out (which can make it easier financially) or do them no more closely together than twice a week. I chose the quickest option possible. One the first week, two the second week, and a fourth the week after that.
After four visits re-examination of his goniometric measurements—that is, extending his rear legs—improved by 10 to 15 degrees.
His second stance analysis (remember a perfect score is 30/30 in front and 20/20 in back) improved from 35/32 in front and 22/11 in back to 33/34 and 18/15. He was still weight-forward and far from perfect, but things clearly were improving.
Then of course, as is his way, the problem arose with Whiskey’s front shoulder and “ankle” and we went through a second round of shockwaves and more measurements.
He still has a long way to go to be field-ready (if we can get him there), but after just those first three weeks I became a shockwave believer.
Whiskey still hasn’t learned how to talk but I’ve learned more about how to read his body language, his measurements continue to improve and that not only lifts my hopes but builds my confidence.