High Performance, Deluxe Leg Treatment (07/07)
Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, discovered the therapeutic qualities of seawater by noticing the healing affects it had on the injured hands of fishermen. The seawater not only restricted infection risks, but patients who followed treatments involving the use of seawater found that it also promoted pain relief. It is now known that sea salt therapy is an effective treatment that assists in the rejuvenation of the cells and also induces a healthy exchange of minerals and toxins between the blood and the water. After a workout, a cold rock salt rub will aid in cleansing the waste from the legs by the abrasive rubbing, and will bring rejuvination to the cells. Rock salt can be bought from the grocery or hardware store. This is the same salt that is used in making ice cream. (Always test a patch of skin before performing this therapy).
Place two cups of rock salt in a bowl, then add enough cold water to cover it. Grab two handfuls of the cold mixture and rub vigorously up and down the leg from top to bottom, then back up, ending in rubbing towards the heart. Completely rinse the salt out with cold water.
Next, run a warm water rinse over the legs, including the upper legs. If you use herbs for pain or swelling, now is a good time to add a nice, warm, herb compress. This can be done by making a hot tea and soaking a cotton or flannel rag with it. Wrap the lower legs with the rag, and wrap with cellophane wrap (like Saran Wrap) to keep the moisture in. Some of the herbs known to control inflammation and relieve pain are; Chamomile, Comfrey, and Arnica which opens capillaries and increases circulation. A company called "Weleda" makes a great arnica oil which I use at the end of my leg treatments. A nice Comfrey compress can be especially relieving to arthritic jounts. I use a Comfrey Compress on most of my athletic clients. The leaves can be purchased at the health food store in bulk, and it can be pre made into a strong tea and brought to your client in a thermos for hot application. While it’s on the legs for 20 - 30 minutes, you can work on another part of the body. Again, test the product on a patch of skin first.
Follow the warm water rinse (or compress) with a gentle wringing stroke from the hoof, up to the upper leg. Wring out the debris as if you were wringing a dishrag, hand, opposite hand. Go easy because the connective tissue will be softening and moving with your stroke. Your goal is to loosen the skin enough to allow the blood and fluid to flow through freely. You don’t want to traumatize the tendons and ligaments in this area, but you do want to move the debris that has been loosened during your massage work.
Follow this stroking with a Chucking Stroke. This is a pinching and gliding motion performed up the back of the leg. It is meant to move the skin that may be adhered to the long tendons and ligaments in this body part. Follow the Chucking Stroke with another Wringing up the leg towards the heart. End the massage part with a final cold water rinse. Always end your Hydrotherapy treatments with cold.
Now, dry the legs with a vigorous rubbing with a fluffy towel. Because this area is proned to drying and dandruff, end your session by applying a lotion or oil that is not attractive to bugs and flies (Arnica oil is nice). Use a gentle petrissage stroking to be sure that the product is absorbed through the hair to the skin of the legs. Baby powder works for this purpose too.
If you wrap your horse for standing in the stall, or for stocking up, now is a good time to do it before the fluid begins to stock. Be sure to leave a little extra room for normal blood flow to return because the blood is in other places at this time. This is a nice treatment to use after hard exercise. This treatment is in no way meant to replace Veterinary Care for injured legs. Here’s a review;
1) Rock Salt Rub 6) Chucking
2) Cold Water Rinse 7) Cold Water Rinse
3) Warm Water Rinse 8) Dry With Towel and Vigorous Rub
4) Hot Herb Compress 9) Rub with Lotion, Oil, or Powder
5) Wringing Up The Leg 10) Wrap, if Necessary
Your horse should be allowed to rest after this treatment. He should have plenty of fresh, clean water, and a place to lay down.
Checkout www.herbsnhorse.com for information on herbs for horses. Also, a new book has just been released about understanding the uses of Hydrotherapy. An Introduction to Heat and Cold as Therapy Laurel Fowlie RMT, BA,MEd
Therapy To The Shoulder (01/06)
The horse’s shoulder attaches in a way that it becomes part of the neck, chest, and back. So, any symptom of lameness in the body could trace back to the shoulder, and here’s why; The scapula, which is essentially the shoulder as it makes up more than one half of the shoulder joint, hangs as a pendulum. It swings forward with the aid of the major neck muscle (Brachiocephalicus), and swings back with the aid of the major back muscles, the Trapezius and the Latissimus Dorsi. The scapula is also completely entwined in it’s own muscles like the Deltoid, the Supra and Infraspinatus, and the attachments underneath, like the Sub Scapularis, and the Serratus’ which are both neck and back muscles.
Sometimes there is injury to the ligaments of the joint itself. This requires veterinary attention to assess bone, ligament, or tendon injury. If, however, the shoulder is simply tight, or range of motion is limited due to muscle shortness, range assessment can be made by a therapist manually mobilizing the joint. Once assessment has been made through mobilization, therapy can also be applied through mobilization and stretching.
Begin by Effleuraging the entire area from the neck, down over the shoulder and withers, and through the Latissimus Dorsi. Apply cross fiber friction to the neck (Brachio), then up over the withers, then down the scapula across the Deltoid and Supraspinatus, then back up across the Infraspinatus, followed by Effleurage. Then, beginning at the attachment of the Latissimus Dorsi to the shoulder, apply cross fiber friction to the entire Latissimus, up the back, and down, until you’ve made your way back down to the attachment where you first began. Follow this deep work with another round of Effleurage.
Now, you’re ready to lift the forelimb and begin mobilization by hand. Bend your own knees, and lift the leg behind the knee with both hands, so that it’s dangling loosely. Move the limb forward as though you are going to stretch it, then gently move it medially, posteriorly, laterally, then back to the front. Keep the limb loose and dangling through a few of these rotations, followed by deep stretching. Be sure to protect your back by using a brace as well as bending your knees to prevent low back stress. By doing these stretches regularly, you’ll be amazed at how much more mobile your horse’s front end will be.
Scar Tissue Mobilization Techniques (September, '04)
It seems to come up in every conversation that I have about rehabilitation and therapy. "How do I prevent scar tissue from forming?" or "How do I get rid of this huge restrictive scar?" Scar tissue is almost as strong and non-elastic as connective tissue. In essence, that’s what it is. Collagen fibers are laid down in a sporatic and unorganized pattern in order to prevent a recurrence of injury. If you have ever patched a hole in a pair of jeans with the zig-zag stitcher on your sewing machine, you know exactly how it works.
Scar tissue occurs as a result of injury, surgery, or repetitive motion. These are very different types of injury which will cause a variation in the type of scar tissue, as well. For example, a "shear" injury would be a cut caused by surgery, or a similar type of injury. In this case, the tissue is actually severed, never to be matched up perfectly again. A "compression" injury is generally caused by force trauma. An example of this would be getting hit with a baseball or getting kicked. You often see this type of injury in horses. The scar tissue that results from this type of injury is more like a mass. Because the injured part is resistant to movement due to pain, the area lays down scarring to all of the bruised cells. Even though this isn’t the worst injury, it is sometimes the most difficult scarring to break through. In a repetitive motion injury, the tissue wears down from constant friction. Because this type of injury is usually managed by an athlete or worker with anti - inflammatories, the body continues to build scar tissue as the muscle or joint continue to defy the body’s signals. This type of scar tissue can be in the form of soft tissue adhesion, or bone spurring or Osteoarthritis.
I have developed a simple protocol to working and restoring non functional areas no matter what the type of injury is. Each Therapist must understand the physiology of the type of tissue and surrounding joints in order to be safe and effective in the steps presented.
1. History: Try to find out the exact etiology and age of the scar. This will help in your evaluation of the tissue, and the next steps to take. The age will give you an idea of how long it may take to rehabilitate. The rule of thumb is that it will take as long to rehabilitate as it did to form.
2. Evaluation: Check for heat. Heat is a contraindication for scar massage. Check for the clients response. If they have disregarded the part because it had no feeling, you will have to re-integrate this body part into the chain of movement. Evaluate if this scar affects the range of adjacent joints. Gentle stretching will aid in bringing to joing back to normal. Begin to make mental notes as to your treatment options.
3. Treatment: Discuss your treatment plans with your client. Remain open to changes at any time for any reason. Know your clients limits. Remember, you will be causing injury in order to remodel the tissue. NEVER force an adjacent joint.
a) Begin by Effleuraging the surrounding areas towards the heart and lymph watersheds. Either place an ice pack over the scar, or rub with ice cups before beginning direct work.
b) Once the scarred area is de-sensitized with ice, begin by transversely stroking, trying to mobilize the tissue. Then work the tissue up and down. Because you have no way of knowing the tissue patterns, it’s necessary to mobilize the tissue in every direction. This is why I always work the limbs by both "wringing" transversely, then "chucking" up and down. Follow the scar mobilization with Effleurage again towards the heart and nearby lymph watersheds.
c) Mobilize the area. Large scars always affect the mobility of adjacent joints. Since the area is warm from your tissue mobilization, you’re ready to mobilize the entire body area which may have been affected by the restriction. Talk to your client, remind their brain to re-incorporate this dead, non-functional part into the entire body system. Work the body part in each direction.
d) Complete your work with icing the scar for 10 minutes. This will aid in healthy healing of the cells that you have disturbed. Encourage your client to drink as much water as possible.
e) Plan on working at least twice a week until you have reached your goals. Be sure to log your clients progress and input from the last session before you begin your work each day. The length of therapy will vary according to the age and severity of the damage.
Do What You Feel You Should Do (July, '06)
When you pet your dog, or burp a baby, you don’t normally get inside your head worrying about how you’re doing. When you’re learning how to do massage, you can get dis - jointed trying to make things go smoothly. You want to move rhythmically, while connecting each body part. You try to start at the "beginning," with things flowing from head to toe. Well, good luck with that. Then, to make things even more hectic, you add a horse that’s never had a massage, and he’s acting all jiggy and annoyed. This isn’t how you pictured that it would be. You wanted to be a really good therapist that made every horse that you touch melt in your hands! Well, good luck with that too!
In the beginning, you’ll stand next to your big client and go blank just wondering what to do next. Relax. Do what motivated you to learn this wonderful craft to begin with. Touch the horse. Just put your hand on his shoulder, connect to his body, and wait for a moment of brilliance. Be as natural as you are when you pet your dog or rock a baby.
It’s really nice to start at the head and work your way down. If you’re like me, you like everything to be precise and orderly. This just isn’t what therapy is. Therapy is connecting with your client and giving them what they need. They may have personal reasons why they don’t want their head messed with. Or maybe they have a lot of pain that was inflicted by a human. WHY on earth would they want for you to put your hands on that spot? You know, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior and that’s all they have to go on. You have to ask and negotiate your every move.
Most importantly, have a confident touch. I’ve had massages from students that are shy about their hands. They tend to pull away rather than lean into it with a firm and confident touch. Pulling away from the client can feel like you’re taking something from them, possibly leaving them feeling negative. I don’t like to get a massage from someone who isn’t confident about their skills.
Be sure that you are using proper biomechanics while leaning into your work. This feels confident to the recipient because it’s firm and deliberate. I like to begin the massage on the body part that needs it the most. As long as you are directing your Effleurage strokes towards the heart or excretory organs, the rest of the massage is up to you and your client.
Horses like certain types of work too. They generally like a nice, organized treatment with special attention to their problems. Then .... some special attention to their problems again! They don’t however, like for you to be all over the place wondering what to do. They like for you to be in control of a nice, rhythmic, deep massage.
My horse likes nice, moist heat packs on his low back before I work on it. Does he notice when I just go right to work on his back? He turns his head completely around and stares at me like I’m forgetting something. He also hands me his leg for a stretch at the end of his massage. He likes certain strokes. He hates Compression. If I try to use it, he lets me know that he’s already told me that he hates it, so why am I using THAT stroke again?
Certain strokes are designed for certain purposes. For example, Cross Fiber Friction is for breaking up adhesed tissue. What if that’s the only stroke that your horse will allow you to use? Do the best that you can to get blood flowing to the area, then use only Cross Fiber stroking. No problem. What if your horse won’t let you near his neck? Remember, that the more blood that’s flowing, the looser the body part will be. So, if you try to touch his neck and he refuses, you can still encourage blood to the area by stimulating the heel bulb, or even by Effleurage to the rump. The Glutes are huge muscles and through manual stimulation, they will pump blood to the neck by encouraging the overall volume of blood that’s moving through the whole body. Eventually, the neck won’t be as tender and you can go back and begin working. What if he still hates Effleurage on his neck? Not to worry. If you’ve been stimulating the Glutes enough, the neck will be warmed up so go ahead and use the Cross Fiber Friction that this horse enjoys.
My overall message here is to relax. Enjoy your work. Don’t worry about having things in order. Follow the instructions given by the horse and be deliberate and not wishy - washy in your delivery. Be sure that the muscles are properly warmed before moving on to deeper strokes. Be creative. Your work will get better and better.
Lifes Baggage and Psycho - Somatic Posturing (May, '06)
A recent email from a student that is brand new to massage asked; "What is baggage that you refer to in your courses?" Baggage? That’s life. Stress, tension, abuse, heavy handed riders, other horses, trailering, hunger, thirst, you name it, it all builds up in the body somewhere. The term "Psycho" refers to your mind. The term "Soma" refers to your physical body including your organs and brain. How we connect the two is very interesting. As a body worker, I am trained to look at a person’s body when they explain their physical complaints to me. If a woman tells me that she is considering a divorce, and her shoulders and chest are quite closed off, I consider that she might have low self esteem, possibly caused by another person. This means that her "Soma" is showing a particular posture caused by her "Psyche," or mind. Although there are many components that influence our Psycho - Soma, here are a few;
1) Heredity - We can’t change our genetic traits. If our parents are shaped a certain way, it’s likely that we’ll resemble that.
2) Physical Activity - Depends on where you’re born and what type of lifestyle that you have. For example, a young man raised on a farm is likely to be a bit stronger than a latchkey kid that plays video games all day.
3) Emotions - Things that we have learned to emotionally respond. A child that is yelled at constantly, is likely to carry their head lower than a child with high self esteem.
4) Nutrition - The types of food available in our environment have a lot to do with our shape.
5) Tradition - Our belief systems are built upon how we were raised. So we can’t change our general genetic shape, or the lifestyle that we have according to where and how we live, but we begin to change our physical stature over time according to the life’s experiences that we have. According to Alexander Lowen, who has written many books about his methods of Bioenergetics, "we build our bodies to meet our needs."
Some factors that may affect the Psycho Soma of a horse would be the pecking order of the herd. You’ve seen the low man on the totem pole stand off alone with their head down. Imagine yourself being criticized constantly. Eventually, you would slump your shoulders and carry your head and eyes facing down, not making eye contact with anyone. By this consistent posturing, you will actually tighten the muscles in the chest, and over develop muscles in the back.
Psycho Soma is a study in itself. There are studies that show certain personality types taking on specific body shapes, some with their chest boldly forward, some with their backs rounded. The big chest is confrontational, the rounded back is a person willing to carry the weight of the world.
In my experience with horses, I’ve watched for Psycho Somatic postures and there are definitely patterns. Below, I’ve listed a few. If you pay attention to your clients, you’ll begin to recognize them yourself.
a) Sore, over developed Withers with no apparent reason - When you’re tense, you begin to carry your shoulders a little higher than normal. This gives you stiffness at the back of your head and down your neck. Horses are built differently, so they don’t carry their shoulders around their ears, but they do develop a tightness in the withers from trying to carry their shoulders higher, the same as a human. Horses that are generally tense or worried will have tension in the Trapezius and Rhomboids. This horse needs to relax!
b) Standing on the back of their heels - This is the "puller backer." This is the horse that your are hand walking and all is well, then all of a sudden, they lean back on their heels and start to back up. People balance on their heels too. This posture shows fear and instability.
c) Feet PLANTED, don’t like to pick them up - This is not a flighty horse. This horse wants to feel tightly grounded.
You hear people refer to Psycho - Somatic illness. This is something that is real! It doesn’t mean the the person that is ill is crazy, it just means that the cause of the illness is from something that they might be worrying or obsessing about. For example, worrying about money can cause a stomach ulcer, nerves before a performance of some sort can make you puke. After my Father passed away because of a sudden heart attack, I started having vague chest pain. It lasted for a year, and was subtle. I was given all of the standard medical testing with nothing wrong. Years later, I found out that my brother and sisters went through the same thing.
A good book on Psycho Somatic illness is; Somatics: Reawakening the Mind's Control of Movement, Flexibility, and Health Thomas Hanna
Being The BEST Takes a Village (May, '05)
Just try to find an Equine Massage Program on the internet. There are the "energy" programs taught by "healers." They don’t work with the horse or the muscles ... just "energy." Yes .... in some instances, that’s a great way to clear emotional blockages. Then there are the "Sports" massage programs. They teach you how to pound out a great pre and post event massage on a big animal. A good muscle pounding is beneficial to an athlete too. The field is getting competitive, and the more that you know, the better therapist that you will be.
We’re at a place in animal therapy where the stakes are getting higher. Even though results are difficult to document, more and more veterinarians are becoming trained in complimentary therapies, or are fighting adamantly against anyone but vets practicing them.
The stakes are getting higher. I watch my world of horse therapy, and the people around me do the dance, and I wonder who the experts will eventually be. I see vets throwing out scientific questions to massage therapists. I see the therapists throwing out some "knowledgable" answer that is well beyond the realm of what they really need to know. I think that if we are to work together, we need to respect our co workers for their knowledge and how it applies to our specific goals for our own client. If it’s a vet, that’s great. I want to work with someone who knows horses. I don’t want to worry that they’re going to shave a horses ears while I’m working on the legs. I want for them to understand tack. How a particular bit might affect head carriage. For example, a snaffle affects the mouth, but might have a certain head raising action, where a curb might affect the poll differently. These differences in head response could be just the answer that you’re looking for in a client with a chronic stiff neck.
When I have a client with a postural or movement problem, I want to trouble shoot with someone that is educated in the field. What about the different breeds and disciplines? That absolutely affects how and what body part a horse may be loading improperly.
If you want to compete in this business, it’s almost a no brainer. You’ve got to stay informed. Most 5 day Equine Massage Therapy Programs don’t have the time to take you through watching each individual sport, good conformation for that sport, and as I mentioned before, tack. Amazing how tack can be one of the greatest causes of pain and sketchy behavior, but how little most people take the time to learn about it. Do you want longevity as an Equine Therapist, and do you want to be the BEST? Learn as much as you can. It’s FREE. Here are some ideas for free education;
Attend a local show. If you don’t see one offered in the newspaper, call your State Quarterhorse Association, or Horse Council. They usually have the schedule for all disciplines. Attend something that you know nothing about. You’ll see the different conformations and strengths and weaknesses that you won’t see if you only work on one type of horse.
Search "horse bits" on the internet. Learn about the different shapes and materials of mouth pieces. Learn the purpose of each one. When you’re at a show, and think that you see a mouth, neck, or head resistance problem in a horse, notice the type of bit that’s in their mouth. Start to put performance and tack together. Look closer.
Go to the library and check out a book on horse training. You would be AMAZED at the old fashioned terms and techniques used in some of the old books on the shelf. The truth is that some of these outrageous techniques are still used behind closed doors today. Some of the behavioral problems that you may encounter may be caused by one of these outdated techniques. Just the same, there are some very basic gentle techniques that have been used over the years that may be helpful to you as a therapist. These tips can be found in both old and new books at the library.
There's a lot more to this business than the muscles, and I’m sure that you already know that. Best wishes to you on a successful summer, and I hope that you will continue to learn and prosper in your therapy. ——
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