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Post by Barry on Feb 28, 2012 4:52:59 GMT 10
Hi Tom, I have a promising pup that has picked up an injury to its rear left. I suspect it is a hamstring problem but maybe wrong. First off the warning signs were there, but I never picked up on them. Dog drifted badly off the last bend. He ran on to win in a good time for a pup of his age. His next race he did not run as wide of the last bend and I thought the first week it was in his head. You know when your dog is winning in good clocks you say to yourself there is nothing wrong with him (I was wrong) Anyway the dog ran another race and broke down at the first corner. I first suspected the dreaded gracilis as there was some bruiseing on inside of his leg. Not that much though, I have seen a lot worse. I ice packed for the first 48 hrs and the bruseing subsided. There was no swelling of note. On palpitaton of the inside muscles of the rear left everything seems to feel ok with no pain responce. However if you move to the outside of the rear left the dog is showing pain responce between the two back end muscles. I have checked whatever diagrams I can get my hands on and it is pointing to the Hamstring.  If you can understand what I am trying to point to is underneath the muscle with the black mark. You get pain responce if yo palpitate towards the front of the dog. Can you give me an opinon of what you think it may be or is their a chance that it may still be the gracilis. Thanks |
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Post by Tom Meulman on Feb 28, 2012 15:43:29 GMT 10
Hi Barry,
The area you have marked on the muscle chart between the two muscles is the area where the sciatic nerve runs and this becomes extremely sensitive when there is a lower back problem.
An area of bruising always indicates muscle damage, however on the inside of the hind leg the damage that primarily occurs is splitting and separation between the lower section of the hamstring and the back muscle (Gracilis). This occurs as a result of the Gracilis muscle or the hamstring damaging, and this is where the bruising would have mainly showed.
In this area the split generally occurs at the lower end of both muscles and to check this area you need to lift the leg off the ground, bend the knee slightly, and then check the damage by sliding your finger between both muscles, as this is the only way to check the severity of the problem.
If the separation is deep it will more then likely require injecting with a sclerosing agent to stop it splitting further. The other problem is that when a split occurs between the individual muscle sheaths there is very little swelling or bruising, so it is quite easy to miss the extent of the damage.
I also have some concerns about the fact that the dog first showed running off the track a little, and then broke down on the first turn as it is unusual for left hind limb damage to cause running off on the turns, or breaking down on a turn.
So it is important to double check the right hock, the calf muscle and the Achilles of the right hind limb as well as the ligaments of both wrists.
Cheers,
Tom
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Post by Barry on Mar 14, 2012 5:04:25 GMT 10
Hi Tom,
Thanks for your thoughts on the injury's.
I had him checked over the day after I posted the first questions and you were on the ball.
His gracilis did seperate at the bottom and there was also a slight bit of damage to the muscle sheath high up on the right rear.
First off I was to ice pack and get rid of any swelling present.
I was advised to give the dog some rest but not complete rest. Let him off in a small paddock so he can do what he is comfortable doing himself. I have to also do as much phyiso as possible giving him gentle stretches to the gracilis/hamstring. But to make sure he does not tighten up.
I was showed about rubbing downwards on his gracilis from the top towards his foot. I have being doing this and have noticed there is like a small sack of fluid forming towards the knee joint.
I imagine this could be blood from the injury trapped under the skin.
Q.1 Would you use a syringe and remove the fluid from this area or would you leave it ?
Q.2 The dog is taking his running around the small paddock well. How long would you leave him in the small paddock before you decide to put himinto a bigger one ?
Thanks once again
Barry
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Post by Tom Meulman on Mar 14, 2012 16:56:35 GMT 10
Hi Barry,
I’m pleased that the injury is not as bad as it could have been, as the person that checked your pup for you obviously decided that it did not need injecting to strengthen the area.
Firstly the massaging; the fact that by doing so it has resulted in fluid leaking from the damaged area indicates to me that the damaged muscle fibres have not yet healed sufficiently for deep massage to be beneficial at this point in time.
So this needs to be eased off somewhat, possibly another 7 days rest before starting the massaging again.
The massage itself is usually best done using an oil based liniment such as iodised oil, and this can be gently massaged into the damaged muscle and then continued through to the inside of the knee as this will then also take in the knee ligament which is always placed under strain with this type of injury.
Not forgetting of course the lower junction of the hamstring and back muscle where the separation has occurred and spending an extra minute or two rubbing the oil liniment into this area.
In regard to the fluid, it is best drained, but only if there is a fair amount there as this should disappear reasonably quickly if the injury is allowed to rest for a little longer.
The stretching is best done immediately after the massaging simply because at that time the muscle tissue is warm, softened somewhat, and therefore the stretching will be more beneficial.
The stretching itself is done by having the dog stand balanced on all four feet, and with you standing on the opposite side of the dog to the leg that is to be stretched.
Then by reaching over the dog the foot is picked up and slowly lifted towards the shoulder blade Humerus junction, holding it at that spot for the count of five, and then repeating the stretch another four times allowing the leg to relax between stretches for the count of five.
The other thing to keep in mind is that any dog that at an early age damages a back muscle/hamstring junction is highly likely to also sustain a similar injury to the other hind leg, and therefore while you are doing the massaging on the damaged limb it is worthwhile to also massage the same group of muscles on the opposite leg.
In regard to when the dog could be allowed to gallop in a larger yard, I would be inclined to allow 14 days of massage and stretching before doing so. Keeping in mind that tests have shown that it takes 46 days for muscle sheaths, tendons, and ligaments to reach their maximum strength after having been damaged.
Cheers,
Tom
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