by Animal Chiropractor Carly Spratley
We’ve all heard of chiropractors for people. How about pets? We spoke to Carly from Rebalance Chiropractic to find out more…
I’ve heard of chiropractic treatment for people, does it work in the same way for animals?
Yes chiropractic for animals works to exactly the same principles as for humans. Chiropractors assess each of the joints in the spine, pelvis and limbs to see if they are moving correctly, if they find a joint that is restricted they will “adjust” to restore normal movement.
The joints of the body are packed with nerve endings called proprioceptors that send information through the nervous system to the brain about how that joint is functioning. If the joint is restricted the body’s response to this input from the nervous system is to try and stabilise that joint by creating muscular tension that further limits motion.
A chiropractic adjustment is designed to restore joint motion and this bombards the nervous system with “normal” information allowing the surrounding muscles to relax and for the joint to move through it’s normal range of motion once more.
Is it easier to treat people or animals?
I love treating animals, as their response is true, they have no expectations of the treatment and respond in such a natural way, it’s an incredibly rewarding job.
Do you treat other animals, or is it just dogs?
I also treat horses and other small animals such as cats and rabbits, basically any animal can benefit from chiropractic care if they have a joint that is restricted!
What kind of conditions can it help with?
Chiropractic can be used to treat a range of ongoing musculoskeletal conditions and can be helpful in managing conditions such as arthritis, hip or elbow dysplasia keeping these animals moving as well as they possibly can, it is also used to treat performance animals such as agility dogs, or horses that compete in disciplines such as eventing, show jumping or dressage that are often challenged by the physical demands of their sport.
Chiropractic is not just for animals that are suffering from injuries or ongoing physical conditions; it is for any animal that for whatever reason is not moving as well as they have done previously. People will often seek chiropractic care for their animal when they notice that it can’t do something that it could once do easily; such as a dog struggling to get up off its bed or a horse refusing a jump that it would normally do with ease.
If people want more information whom should they contact?
Further information can be found on our website www.rebalancechiropractic.co.uk/animal-chiropractic Email: [email protected] Phone: 01793 977290
