What is a Sprain?
A sprain or strain occurs when your dog has overextended or overworked a muscle, ligament, or tendon, resulting in painful stretching or tearing that may limit mobility and weight-bearing.
Clinical Signs of a Sprain
A sprain is not always immediately obvious in a pet, especially since dogs aren’t always vocal when they’re in pain. Some tell-tale signs of a sprained limb may include limping, yelping during certain movements, localized swelling, reluctance to bear weight or use the limb, and the leg becoming unusually hot.
Sprain Diagnosis and Treatment Options
The team at The Animal Doctors can use a number of observational and medical techniques to diagnose a sprain. Firstly, your vet may look for the signs and symptoms listed above to get a better idea of where the sprain could be located. Digital X-ray imaging may be used — this will allow us to pinpoint the exact location of the sprain.
Once the sprain has been confirmed, The Animal Doctors' team will talk you through treatment options. The difficult thing with sprains is that there are no quick-fix treatments. With simple sprains, using heat/ice packs and resting the limb will allow for the limb to heal naturally. If the strain is more serious and involves torn tendons or ligaments, surgery may be required. Regardless of the severity of the sprain, healing a sprain will take time.
Treatment of a sprain usually involves bed rest and pain management. Laser therapy may be an additional option that can speed recovery.
How Does Laser Therapy Assist in Treating Sprains?
The Animal Doctors team goes above and beyond to treat conditions like sprains using laser therapy treatment to provide the best possible rate of recovery.
Laser therapy, or photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy, is a safe and effective treatment option to accelerate the healing process of sprains. Using laser therapy involves concentrated light energy to the sprain to boost your dog’s natural healing mechanisms and reduce tissue inflammation.
The pulses of light energy penetrate specific cells, triggering cell repair and regeneration. This process helps to speed up cell turnover, resulting in faster healing of the sprain and an overall reduction in inflammation and, therefore, pain during healing.
While the healing process will take time, The Animal Doctors team will provide you with extensive after-care instructions and pain medication to ensure your dog isn’t suffering during the healing process.
Managing pain for a sprained leg will help ensure your dog doesn’t suffer during the healing process, so come and visit The Animal Doctors team for a consultation regarding laser therapy treatment.
The Animal Doctors services the entire San Francisco Peninsula, including Atherton, Cupertino, East Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Portola Valley, Redwood City, Stanford, and Woodside.
