Exercise of the Month

Hip Exercises - Puppy to Geriatrics

If I was in the mood, I would write an ode to the mighty canine hip! I love rehabbing this joint through the full spectrum of a pet's lifespan. Now GoGoCharlie has home exercises for all phases of life (see the Templates list below).

At CSU, orthopedics used to refer

puppies and young adults with hip dysplasia for a course of 'pre-hab'. The rehabilitation goal was to improve function and quality of life for as long as possible. If a total hip replacement was needed, the surgeon wanted the THR to

last the life of the pet. At the completion of a 6-month course of therapy, the

pets would return to orthopedics for follow up radiographs. The radiographs

looked about the same, but the dogs looked great! The surgeon would say,

"continue therapy, see ya in 6-months".

A few years later, the orthopedics team now looks to the rehab team to tell them when and if conservative management is failing. There are those dogs who just can't accommodate their joint instability. These pets go to surgery sooner than later. But there are other dogs who conservatively manage their hips through the full spectrum

of their lives. For these pets, managing osteoarthritis is eventually needed.

Here's hoping puppies, adults, and grand dogs needing hip rehabilitation fall into your skilled rehabilitation hands!

Onward!

Sasha

P.S. Content in this newsletter is not AI, it's Sasha.

Hip Rehabilitation Considerations

Conservative Management

One rehab superpower is our ability to influence muscles. Yes, gluteal strength is needed, but early in the rehab process, in my experience lengthening the iliopsoas and cranial sartorius is one of the most impactful things we can do.

When the hip joint is unstable, because the bulk of the hip joint musculature is cranial to the joint, the femur is pulled cranio-dorsally. Overtime, this can lead to adaptive shortening of these muscles which further exacerbates the subluxation or luxation.

Lengthening iliopsoas, cranial head of sartorius, and middle gluteal while concurrently strengthening the gluteal group can improve function.

P.S. I don't think I need to say this but, always treat pain first.

TEMPLATE:

ORTHO Hip Dysplasia Level 1 (Acute)

In the early stages of rehab where pain is a primary function limiting issue, a rehab therapist might consider using alternative manual techniques to lengthen muscles.

Petrissage of iliopsoas (shown here)
Petrissage of cranial head of sartorius
Modified stretch of iliopsoas
Modified stretch of sartorius

In addition, this is one of the diagnoses where I heat, lengthen, then exercise. My critical thinking is that if the hip joint is subluxed and I exercise the muscles in this position, it may cause pain. My goal is to lengthen, apply k-tape as needed to maintain the length, then exercise. Palpating the joint during exercise should tell me if the joint is remaining reduced during exercises.

TEMPLATE:

ORTHO Hip Dysplasia Level 2 (Subacute)

Once the muscles are lengthened and strengthen enough for a dog to stand without pain, we start UWT.

Our protocol is robust:

wk 1: 5 minutes x 3
wk 2: 5 minutes x 4
wk 3: 5 minutes x 5
then we start adding band, jets, etc...

Naturally, we follow clinical signs. Some dogs can't do this robust program immediately, other dogs (think young GSD) are happy to do this and would do more if asked. We complete 12 weeks of UWT.

At the same time, we are progressing to the next phase of the home program. Untrained pets need a bit more time to understand the exercises. The GGC templates are designed to teach a dog a behavior in an early phase of rehab, then repeat this behavior on different equipment.

TEMPLATE:

ORTHO Hip Dysplasia Level 3 (Chronic)

ORTHO Hip Dysplasia Level 4 (Return)

Interested in a deeper dive on hip rehabilitation?

Take the Hip Course

How to Find Hip Content in GGC

TEMPLATES

Template Keyword: hip

ORTHO Hip Dysplasia Level 1 (Acute)

ORTHO Hip Dysplasia Level 2 (Subacute)

ORTHO Hip Dysplasia Level 3 (Chronic)

ORTHO Hip Dysplasia Level 4 (Return)

ORTHO Hip FHO Level 1 (Acute)

ORTHO Hip FHO Level 2 (Subacute)

ORTHO Hip FHO Level 3 (Chronic)

ORTHO Hip THR Level 1 (Acute)

ORTHO Hip THR Level 2 (Subacute)

ORTHO Hip THR Level 3 (Chronic)

ORTHO Hip Post Joint Injection

ORTHO Hip Osteoarthritis Level 1 (Acute)

ORTHO Hip Osteoarthritis Level 2 (Subacute)

ORTHO Hip Osteoarthritis Level 3 (Chronic)

ORTHO Hip Toggle Pin Level 1 (Acute)

ORTHO Hip Toggle Pin Level 2 (Subacute)

ORTHO Hip Toggle Pin Level 3 (Chronic)

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