Electrotherapies for Dogs

Electrotherapies for Dogs

PBM helps by kickstarting a damaged or older cell to work properly.

There are a series of chemical changes or actions that take place in the individual cells of the body and when these become injured or not working as effectively as they might PBM can help to stimulate them to work better. There is a very small part or molecule within each cell that should collect oxygen and then combine this together with another molecule to make something else called ATP which provides energy to enable the cell to function properly and do its job. Damaged cells tend to pick up nitric oxide instead which stops it then collecting oxygen so it is unable to make ATP and therefore it doesn’t work or heal properly or as quickly. The light power from the laser stimulates the cell and knocks the nitric oxide off the molecules and that enables them to pick up the oxygen again and work properly. The more cells there are that are working properly the quicker we will see healing in the affected area because this will improve circulation, reduce pain, and modulate the inflammation process.

Electrotherapies for Dogs

Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy involves the use of low-frequency electromagnetic pulses applied directly to the body. These pulses activate specific molecular activity that then stimulates blood flow.

Micro-currents of electromagnetic signals are delivered to different parts of the body, which has been shown to help heal damaged tissue. Targeted PEMF boosts nitric oxide in your dog’s body, which naturally works as an anti-inflammatory. This drug-free therapy has been used in human medicine for many years, with results proving that it can help reduce healing time and reduce both acute and chronic pain levels. This is a non-invasive therapy that can be used as part of a multimodal approach, to improve healing in acute injury or for managing more long-term conditions.

Electrotherapies for Dogs

The goal of therapeutic ultrasound application is to facilitate the absorption of ultrasound energy in the target tissue so that mechanical vibration/collision of molecules within the tissue can occur. This creates physiologic effects of heating or non-thermal tissue healing effects. The ultrasound wave travels in a sinusoidal manner with both a positive and negative pressure phase. This facilitates compression and decompression of molecules within body tissue.

Non-thermal ultrasound is best suited for accelerating soft tissue healing and bone healing. When used in the acute inflammatory phase of a soft tissue injury it increases macrophage responsiveness in the area of injury. The macrophages attract fibroblasts to the injury site. The fibroblasts play an essential role in increasing protein synthesis and laying collagen tissue to “patch” the injury site.

Thermal ultrasound is widely used to elevate soft tissue temperature and blood flow in well-localized areas of scar tissue formation, contracture, and chronic tendinopathies. This facilitates the stretching and release of restricted tissues.

Electrotherapies for Dogs

Pulsed shortwave therapy is the application of high-frequency electromagnetic energy to the body to reduce pain and swelling. The electromagnetic energy can improve cell membrane permeability to fluid which helps to reduce swelling and aid both soft tissue and bone healing. This can increase the white blood cells and other cells responsible for wound healing. It helps to organise the fibrin fibre orientation and collagen deposition in a wound providing a stronger tissue repair. It moderates the swelling and encourages the absorption of haematomas (bruises). It stimulates osteogenesis or bone healing. Improvement in the healing of nerve tissue has also been seen.

Electrotherapies for Dogs

TENS is a method of electrical stimulation which primarily aims to provide a degree of symptomatic pain relief by exciting sensory nerves and thereby stimulating either the pain gate mechanism and/or the opioid system.

Painful messages are carried through nerves to the brain. TENS can work by blocking the painful impulses along the nerve pathways, it can stimulate the release of the body’s natural pain-relieving chemicals (endorphins). It also helps to relax muscles, which may help to reduce pain.