Jaidi, a loss of power and iliopsoas muscle

Our last few months of competitive agility have been mixed between some good trials and some which I would describe as 'lacking power'! Along with other physio's and chiropractors we have worked hard to relieve muscle tension and restore balance. These sessions did have visibly positive results, both anecdotally and in (competitive) results.

No doubt that the better days coincided with soft tissue and chiropractic work in the proceeding days, but the effects didn't seem to be giving a general, longer term improvement. The visual symptom was distributing more weight to the left side on standing.

In hindsight, we had been concentrating and working in the right areas, but probably on the compensatory factors of an iliopsoas strain. This was diagnosed by our trusted vet Rachel (see my post December 2011), and at last has given an area to focus on to potentially cure the underlying problem.

Probably by now, most agility competitors have heard or even read about these muscles. In short it is a fairly common agility injury and many articles have been written on the subject. For example:

The iliopsoas muscle represents the fusion of the psoas major and the iliacus. The psoas major muscle arises from the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae of the lower spinal column at L2 and L3 and the bodies of L4-7, and the iliacus arises from the ventral or lower surface of the ilium(or hipbone)[1].

Palpation of the Jaidi's iliopsoas muscles, and comparing right to left hand side exhibited scar tissue (on the former) compared to smooth tissue (LHS). In all probability it is an older injury with no obvious trauma / single cause. 

Repetitive strain injuries and muscle fatigue can both initiate the same vicious cycle of inflammation and fibroplasia resulting in pain, muscle shortening, and adhesions[2]

The outcome (in our case) is higher development of muscles on the left hind limb (i.e. glutes, quads, hamstring, calves), hence the preference to favour this leg on standing.

So what to do? 

Well, first I like to have some objective unit of measure to make sure we are taking the right course of action. Qualitatively this involves holding each hind limb on the palm of each hand and assessing the distribution. Quantitatively I weigh each leg (separately) at the same time and compare the data. In the ideal situation the 'feel' and weights will be the same, i.e. a 50:50 distribution. Jaidi was around 65:45 (L/R). So my objective is to try and restore this as close to even as possible with 3 areas to focus:  

1. Repair the iliopsoas strain and restore 'normal' muscle function
2. Increase muscle tone on RH rear limb
3. Reduce muscle tone on LH rear limb

Additionally there will be some fine tuning on other areas that have compensated for the original injury.
Initial treatment

The first thing is to break down the scar tissue and start rebuilding the muscle. Ultrasound (US) is the ideal modality for this. My preference is LW (40 KHz) and we started on the first treatment at 500 mW with the aim  to 'stir things up' (start breaking down the scar tissue)[3]. This was followed up by daily sessions at a lower dose, treating the injury site as acute. The benefits of US include bringing nutrients to the site, clearing debris and giving improved strength and elasticity to scar tissue.

Additionally, as US encourages blood flow to the tissue, it makes an ideal time for some light compression (massage) of the area and stretching the quads and groin area.

2nd week

At the beginning of week 2 distribution was 60:40. I moved onto twice daily sessions of PEMF or 'pulse-mag' in conjunction with stretching. PEMF is a modality extensively used in animals but not that common in human treatments in the UK. 

PEMF therapy helps to heal, repair, and regenerate tissue [4]

The main advantage is it non invasive and doesn't require clipping / gel application. Disadvantages are that the treatment needs to be done frequently and it treats 'areas' not specific muscles.

For our application the goal is to encourage blood flow to the hind limb muscles (vasodilation) so continuing the work from week 1.

Next steps

We have now moved to stage 2 which is to build muscle tone in the left limb. For this I intend to do ~ 3 sessions week hydrotherapy (lucky that we have a lovely medium flowing stream close by) and balance exercises on the other days.

Our next weight distribution measurement will be next Monday (25th August).














[1] Non-responsive Hind-limb Lameness in Agility Dogs:Iliopsoas Strains Focus on Canine Sports Medicine By Sherman O. Canapp, Jr., D.V.M., M.S., Diplomate ACVS

[2] Iliopsoas muscle injury in dogs: Quentin Cabon, DMV, IPSAV, Christian Bolliger, Dr.med.vet, DACVS, DECVS


[3] Electrotherapy explained: Low & Reed

[4] PEMF—The Fifth Element of Health: Learn Why Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) Therapy Supercharges Your Health Like Nothing Else! Meyers, Bryant A.