Rehabilitation and Fitness

The Canine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Melbourne is affiliated with the Craigieburn Animal Hospital.

We are located at 9 Craigieburn Rd, Craigieburn 3064.

To make a booking please call 03 9305 5855

Who would benefit from Rehabilitation?

As with Humans most veterinary patients would benefit from rehabilitation, great benefits can often be made with rehabilitation for animals with the following conditions:

- Following orthopaedic surgery

- Following neurologic surgery

- Arthritis

- Orthopaedic conditions where surgery may be avoided or delayed, such as grade 1-2 medial patella luxation, early partial cranial cruciate tears, hip dysplasia or elbow dysplasia

- Non-operable neurological conditions such as lumbosacral instability, intervertebral disc disease,  fibrocartilaginous embolism or degenerative myelopathy

- Post-amputation

- Canine athletes

- Chronic non-healing wounds

- Obesity

- Geriatric patients

- Muscle wastage (Associated with Cushing's disease, chemotherapy, etc)

What does Veterinary Rehabilitation therapy entail?

The initial and most important part is establishing what the condition is that requires treating. It is not uncommon for an animal with an injury in one limb to develop compensatory changes to other parts of their body. We perform a complete orthopaedic and neurological examination that detects and addresses all musculoskeletal abnormalities. Further examinations will often be performed at regular intervals that assess the response to the therapy provided.

Based on the results of the patient history and examination, individualised treatment plans will be developed for each veterinary patient. A home exercise plan involving the owner will comprise a major component of each plan, and these exercises will be demonstrated to owners during the initial consult.

Where therapeutic modalities, hydrotherapy, or additional exercise therapy are recommended, patients will be scheduled for sessions during the week. Each patient will be given a 1/2 or full hour time slot (depending on the therapy) that is dedicated towards his/her treatment. Sessions may be recommended up to 3 times per week.

The therapeutic modalities we offer are:

- Underwater treadmill

- Low level laser therapy

- E stim (neuromuscular electrical stimulation)

- TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation)

- Exercise equipment including proprioceptive training

- Manual therapy (range of motion, joint mobilization, massage)

- Therapeutic ultrasound

- Stem cell therapy

- Platelet rich plasma