Tallen Veterinary Physiotherapy

10/06/2026

🐴 How Can INDIBA Help Horses with Sacroiliac (SI) Pain?

The sacroiliac (SI) region is one of the deepest and most challenging areas to treat in horses. INDIBA® uses a 448 kHz radiofrequency delivered through a closed electrical circuit, allowing treatment to reach deep structures such as the SI joint and surrounding gluteal muscles that are difficult to access with manual therapy alone.

✨ Benefits of INDIBA for SI Dysfunction:

✔️ Helps reduce pain and muscle guarding
✔️ Increases blood flow to deep tissues, supporting healing and recovery
✔️ Improves tissue flexibility and mobility around the pelvis and lower back
✔️ Supports rehabilitation by encouraging better movement patterns
✔️ Can be used alongside physiotherapy, exercise programmes, veterinary treatments and rehabilitation plans
✔️ Non-invasive, drug-free and very well tolerated by horses

SI pain often causes poor impulsion, difficulty with canter transitions, reluctance to engage the hindquarters, and reduced performance. By reducing discomfort and improving tissue function, INDIBA can help horses move more freely and comfortably as part of a comprehensive rehabilitation programme.

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05/06/2026

04/06/2026

INDIBA® therapy managing osteoarthritis (OA) and chronic joint pain relies on its specific 448 kHz Capacitive Resistive Monopolar Radiofrequency (CRMRF) current. Unlike traditional electrotherapies that sit on the skin surface, INDIBA uses a closed-circuit system with direct skin contact to send current deeply into targeted joint structures (Aguilar-Nuñez et al., 2024; Kumaran & Watson, 2019).

A seminal randomized controlled trial investigating INDIBA for knee osteoarthritis demonstrated significant clinical outcomes over a 4-week period involving 8 treatment sessions (Kumaran & Watson, 2019).

🟢Substantial Pain Reduction: Patients receiving active 448 kHz treatment achieved a statistically and clinically significant decrease in pain scores on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) compared to both sham (placebo) treatments and standard care alone

🟢Improved Functional Scores: Patients experienced significant improvements in functional mobility, measured using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), improving overall quality of life and potentially delaying surgical interventions

🟢Prolonged Relief: Unlike typical short-lived electrotherapies, the therapeutic physiological benefits and pain reduction achieved with INDIBA were maintained at a 1-month follow-up evaluation

Furthermore, recent medical data indicates that introducing 448 kHz radiofrequency therapy immediately following regenerative procedures—such as intra-articular Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) injections—further decreases acute post-injection pain sensations within the first 72 hours, successfully preventing arthrogenic muscle inhibition and paving the way for safer, earlier physical rehabilitation (Abat et al., 2025).

02/06/2026

Why INDIBA for joint pain🐴
448 kHz frequency alters the permeability of the cell membrane. By modulating ion channels, it optimizes the exchange of ions across the cell wall. This specific electrical current triggers several critical cell processes:
🟩Stem Cell Proliferation: It accelerates the replication of local stem cells, which are essential for tissue regeneration.
🟩Cell Differentiation & Migration: It encourages cells to mature into the specific types needed for repair (like fibroblasts for tendons and ligaments) and directs them to the site of injury.

🟢Reduced Inflammation and Effusion
Joint pain is often driven by chronic inflammation or fluid buildup (effusion). INDIBA increases local microcirculation and lymphatic drainage. This helps the body efficiently reabsorb excess fluid, clear out inflammatory bioproducts, and reduce swelling within the joint capsule.
🟢Deep Tissue Hyperthermia
When used in its thermal mode, INDIBA generates heat from the inside out via tissue resistance to the current.
Vascularization: It significantly increases deep blood flow, delivering oxygen and essential nutrients directly to poorly vascularized joint structures like cartilage, ligaments, and tendons.
🟢Accelerated Tissue Regeneration
Cartilage and dense joint connective tissues are notoriously slow to heal due to limited blood supply. By boosting cellular metabolism and stimulating fibroblasts (the cells responsible for producing collagen), INDIBA accelerates the structural repair of tendons, ligaments, and joint capsules.
🟢Pain Management (Analgesia)
INDIBA helps block pain signals along nerve pathways and reduces the mechanical pressure on nerve endings by easing swelling and muscle spasms.
And because it can operate non-heating, sub-thermal mode, INDIBA is safe for acute, highly inflamed, or early-stage post-op recovery.
In long-term rehabilitation, it pairs perfectly with structural treatments like joint injections or hydrogels. While those target the internal joint, INDIBA treats along side enhancing outcomes—relieving compensatory soreness, improving tissue elasticity, and maximizing stability during strength-building.

31/05/2026

Raised walk poles are a powerhouse for equine rehabilitation and conditioning. When a horse steps over a raised obstacle, it can’t rely on momentum as it might at a trot. It requires deliberate, slow, and highly coordinated muscle engagement.
🟢Core and Epaxial Activation: Maneuvering over raised poles forces the horse to engage the re**us abdominus (the lower core muscles) to lift the belly and back (Shaw et al., 2021). This directly recruits the multifidus muscles—the deep, stabilizing muscle clusters along the spine that prevent vertebral column instability (de Oliveira et al., 2015).
🟢Joint Range of Motion (ROM): Walking over poles dramatically increases joint flexion in the swing phase across all major limb joints: the stifles, hocks, carpus (knees), and fetlocks (Shaw et al., 2021).
🟢Proprioception & Balance: Because the poles break up a standard, predictable gait, they function as a sensory workout. The horse must track the obstacle visually and mentally adjust its hoof placement, drastically improving neuromuscular coordination and postural control

Why might we chose this tool over treadmill?
🟢Horses who may only need to do 2 reps of this before significant fatigue
🟢Horses whose posture is very poor which might be exacerbated in the treadmill due to the extended retraction, if they resist the drag (Santosuosso et al., 2021).

Always aim for a multimodal approach that fits YOUR horse and its fitness and soundness level!!

28/05/2026

28/05/2026

28/05/2026

⚡️ The Cellular Science of Deep Healing: How INDIBA / TECAR Therapy Works ⚡️
Ever wonder how elite athletes bounce back from deep structural tissue injuries so quickly? The secret weapon in modern human and veterinary rehabilitation is TECAR / CRET Monopolar Radiofrequency Therapy (popularized by INDIBA®).
Unlike historical shortwave diathermy or simple heating pads that just warm the surface of the skin, this cutting-edge tech passes a specific current directly through the body via contact electrodes, targeting tissue at a cellular level (Piponas, 2021).
Here is a deep dive into the science behind the technology:
🧠 The Dual-Action Mechanism
TECAR (Transfer of Electricity Capacitive and Resistive) operates using a highly researched 448 kHz frequency (McMillan, 2024). It targets different layers of the body using two distinct delivery modes:
1. Capacitive Mode (CAP): The electrode features a polyamide ceramic coating that acts as an insulator. This blocks the current from deeply penetrating immediately, concentrating energy in superficial, fluid-rich tissues like muscles and vascular networks (Fousekis et al., 2020).
2. Resistive Mode (RES): The electrode is uncoated metal, passing the current directly through the body. The energy naturally concentrates wherever it encounters high electrical resistance, deeply targeting dense, low-fluid tissues like tendons, ligaments, joint capsules, and bones (Ryskalin, 2026).
Depending on the intensity used, it works across two physiological levels:
Sub-Thermal (Low Intensity): Generates zero heat but physically alters cell membrane potentials, promoting ion mobilization and boosting cellular metabolism (Šimunič et al., 2023).
Thermal & Hyperthermal (High Intensity): Tissues resist the current, generating deep, internal heat. This triggers massive localized vasodilation, flooding the area with oxygen and draining metabolic waste (Vinolo-Gil, 2026).

InjuryRecovery SportsScience Biostimulation EvidenceBasedMedicine

26/05/2026

I provide INDIBA Radiofrequency therapy across the Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicester area , its my favourite tool to support equine rehabilitation, performance and recovery 🐴

Using targeted radiofrequency technology, INDIBA works by stimulating the body’s natural healing processes, increasing circulation, supporting tissue repair and helping significantly reduce pain and inflammation.

It can be used to manage:
✨ Muscle soreness & tension
✨ Joint pain
✨ Arthritis
✨ Neurological conditions
✨ Improving mobility & flexibility
✨ Supporting rehabilitation & performance horses
✨ Enhancing recovery after exercise

One of the things I love most about INDIBA is how well tolerated it is by horses. The treatment is gentle, non-invasive and relaxing, with many horses visibly enjoying the session while benefiting from improved comfort and movement 💫

10/05/2026

A MESSAGE OF CONCERN

It is becoming more and more concerning how many horses I am seeing with pain, inflammation, soreness and more serious complications following treatment with electrotherapy (mostly PEMF) by unqualified people.

I’m not posting this to discredit anyone, I am simply posting this because I care about the animals.

Qualified practitioners have spent years gaining their knowledge and qualifications, and often this includes specific time training to use electrotherapy correctly.

There are occasions when electrotherapy should never be applied and can cause further damage or complications to an already existing condition. Likewise using the incorrect frequencies can lead to increased muscle soreness and inflammation.

I urge anyone trying to offer their horse the very best care to do their homework about a person applying electrotherapy. The industry is not regulated enough and therefore machine manufactures will sell a machine to anyone and they can use it however they wish.
Just because your trainer has a machine doesn’t mean they have the knowledge to use it. I’m qualified as a physio, it does not mean I can do your farriers job!

It is a rising concern amongst qualified professionals throughout the country, so please be careful and keep your horses safe. 🐴❤️