Tendon Injuries

A common, frustrating, and time-consuming injury, tendon injuries in the athletic horse can take a major toll on future performances. An immense amount of pressure is put through all of the structures in a horse’s lower limb, tendons are elastic structures that attach muscles to the bones and they are unfortunately susceptible to damage during exercise.

The first signs of a tendon injury include an increase in skin temperature, swelling, and lameness due to the associated pain; these are all signs of the acute inflammatory process. Unfortunately, even as the tendon heals scar tissue forms which is often not as robust as the original tendon tissue.

How can physiotherapy help?

A multimodal approach is needed in tendon injuries to give the horse the best possible outcome. In the short term it is all about reducing inflammation, box rest, cold hosing and bandaging can all be used to help this. In the long term, the main aim is to encourage an improved fibre alignment and regulate scar tissue formation, so that the tendon retains its elastic and tensile strength properties. It can be a long process, but tendon regeneration can be massively improved by use of LASER therapy.

LASER therapy involves directing high intensity, near infra-red light into the injured tendon tissue. This in turn leads to an increased blood flow to the area. More blood flow = an oxygenated environment that is more conducive to tissue healing. LASER therapy is also renowned for its effect on the delivery of energy to the cells that repair injured tissue and collagen production, which will all lead to an improvement in the alignment of collagen which means increased strength and elasticity in the scar tissue.