Conservative Management, what is it and does it work?

This blog post is being written in the spirit of National ‘Without a scalpel day’. National without a scalpel day happens on January the 16th every year and is in the spirit of a movement towards a world with ‘less pain, more gain’.

Especially beneficial for orthopaedic and neurological patients, conservative management uses a plethora of therapeutic modalities, appropriate for long term treatment, with the aim of improving the quality of life of patients through pain management, improving range of motion of affected joints, maintaining and rebuilding muscle mass, strengthening of muscle force, improvement of the overall body condition and weight management of overweight patients.

Yes some horses will need surgery due to the complexity of their injury/condition, and the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is effective and useful for animal experiencing pain. However, surgery carries many risks and also the long term treatment with some drugs could pose problems for animals; gastro-intestinal problems are a common side effect and so physiotherapy modalities like thermo/cryotherapy, massage, LASER and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) could be a better long-term solution for some patients.