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Hydrotherapy,
or treatment in water, especially sea water or
natural spa water has long been used for the treatment
of many health conditions. Both hot and cold baths
have been used by human exercise physiologists
and physiotherapists to treat muscle, joint and
surgical injuries. Similar use has been made of
sea water by some horse trainers in coastal locations
and swimming of horses allows massage of joints
and ligaments against the resistance of water
1. However, some local government regulations
now preclude the swimming of horses at beaches
reducing the opportunity for this form of hydrotherapy
other than in purpose built facilities.
Cold temperature effects (cryotherapy) of water
immersion are less well tolerated in humans because
of hypothermia and increases in blood pressure
due to peripheral vasoconstriction 2, however,
local application of cryotherapy following injury
without immersion in all species is well documented.
The standing of horses in running cold streams
was historically recognised as beneficial for
soreness after exercise. Running water maintains
a constant temperature and provides mild massage
which is beneficial with cold and has been a time
honoured treatment for moderate contusion injuries
in competition horses where anti-inflammatory
drug therapy was not an option. For horses with
flexor tendonitis or suspensory desmitis, cryotherapy
with an optimal application time of 20 minutes
is recommended 3.
More
recently improvements in technology have increased
the options for ultrasonographic diagnosis, treatment
and monitoring responses to such treatment in
lower leg tendonitis and desmitis 4,5 , with time
frame from injury to successful competition suggested
as just over a year 6. Successful return to competition
in race horses, managed only by rest, has been
described 7 as horses which competed in 5 or more
races without recurrence of tendonitis but the
report made made no reference to timeframe of
return to racing.
The
opportunity to examine the benefits of agitated
immersion of the lower limbs of horses became
available with the donation of a walk in horse
spa bath in 1998 following earlier development
of a trial unit in 1992. Anecdotal evidence from
that trial unit indicated rapid healing of lower
leg injuries following treatment every other day.a
The first cases treated at Orange responded quickly
during winter but more slowly during summer and
response was also found to be faster with the
addition of salts to make the water hypertonic.
The
responses of 27 subsequent clinical cases of new
or recurring tendonitis, suspensory desmitis or
lower limb injury to cold spa bath hydrotherapy
and confinement prior to re-entry into training
or continued competition is reported.
Results
and Discussion
Materials
and Methods
References
Table
1
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