11/28/2022
When horses sustain a soft tissue injury, the first point of call has often been to use box rest. But is this the best option when managing a tendinopathy? β£
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A tendinopathy is an overuse injury of the tendon. While there is still much we donβt know about managing them, there are a few things that human research tells us. β£
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1) Tendinopathy doesnβt improve with rest. Pain may settle but typically returns once activity resumes.
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2) Exercise is currently the most evidence based treatment for tendinopathy in humans. Tendons need to be loaded progressively so that they can develop greater tolerance to the loads that are placed on them. In humans we see that the vast majority of cases tendinopathy will not improve without this vital load stimulus. Is this why there is a low success rate in horses?β£
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3) Modifying load is important in settling tendon pain. This often involves reducing (at least in the short-term) loads that involves energy storage and compression. In a horse this involves activities like higher speed, jumping, repeated transitions.β£
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4) Tendinopathy rarely improves long term with only passive treatments such as massage, therapeutic ultrasound, injections, shock-wave therapy, laser etc. Exercise and load management are the key factors and passive treatments are adjuncts to help manage pain. β£
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5) Exercise needs to be individualised. There is no recipe and exercise should be prescribed based on factors such as horse age, discipline, and ownerβs goals and expectations. β£
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6) Tendinopathy doesnβt resolve in a hurry. You need to have patience, ensure that exercise is correct and progressed appropriately, and try and resist the common temptation to accept βshort cutsβ.
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EQ Active has a library of over 200 exercises to help in your prescription of rehab programs for tendinopathy. Give it a try free for 30 days or take advantage of our extended trial promotion.
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