Phases of care - A series of treatments
As many owners who have had musculoskeletal care for themselves know - generally a series of treatments over several weeks or even months (for more severe or chronic conditions) are required for recovery.
If one was to visit a chiropractor, osteopath, physiotherapist, acupuncturist, or therapeutic masseur as a human patient for the first time, - the treatments would often be scheduled once or twice a week for some time, and then be progressively spaced out further.
This need for a series of treatment also applies to dogs.
The response may also depend on the severity and chronicity of the problem, and other factors such as age, osteoarthritic degeneration, lifestyle, previous injuries, surgery and activity levels. The regularity of the care and follow-through is often the key to recovery & optimal results.
Healing takes time and maintaining gains over months and years is equally as important
Consolidation Phase
This is often one of the most important phases of care for both successes of the recovery and the long-term quality of life for your dog.
In this phase, some or many of the overt visual signs and symptoms may have lessened or disappeared. This is a positive sign of progress; however, it often does not mean that the problem has been fully resolved.
For example, humans will tend to seek care for themselves based on how they feel, such as experiencing back pain or a headache. Whereas dog owners tend to seek care for their dog based on what signs they can see, such as limping or their dog yelping when their spine is touched.
If you were to have symptoms that others could see such as limping or were unable to walk up and down stairs properly, this would often mean that you have a much more advanced issue.
Your dog will often present with more complicated and advanced musculoskeletal issues due to them not being able to verbally communicate in words their pain or the problems they are experiencing.
Often, when we begin to see improvements, we assume that the issues have disappeared, but this can simply mean the pain/issue has moved back to the equivalent of what a human would feel when their symptoms begin without obvious signs.
Another reason why care in this phase is important, is that this is often a time when your dog is feeling better and so they may increase their activity levels, possibly leading to re-aggravation & recurrence of the
original problem or may even show up new issues.
Hence this is an important time to continue care, support recovery, and help promote further & deeper healing.
This ‘Consolidation stage’ of care will often follow a pattern that human patients will be familiar with.
With treatment being spaced to around one to two weeks apart over a 1-to-3-month period, depending on the severity, complexity, or chronicity of the problem.