By: Kaitlyn Lackey DC cAVCA
Published: May 28, 2024
Hip dysplasia is a complex condition that often affects the pelvis and hip joints in larger breed dogs. Large breeds such as GSDs, labs, rottweilers, goldens, pyrenees, great danes, and others can be predisposed to this condition genetically. In younger dogs, hip dysplasia is usually due to malformation or instability. In older dogs, hip dysplasia often is secondary to arthritic changes in the hips and pelvis.
In addition to traditional veterinary medicine, you might consider exploring complementary means of helping your dog be more comfortable. Complementary is an umbrella term that could include different modalities or treatments, such as: animal chiropractic, canine massage, rehabilitation, red light therapy, and more.
Animal chiropractic care involves identifying and correcting areas of improper motion in your pet's joints. Through restoring proper joint motion, an adjustment can reduce painful muscular compensation plus can aid in promoting proper nerve signaling between the body and brain.
When it comes to your canine companion- animal chiropractic can help to decrease discomfort, manage symptoms, and help slow down the wear and tear on your pet's joints.
What are symptoms of Hip Dysplasia?
👉🏻 Hip dysplasia is a common condition that effects large breed dogs.
Most commonly affected dog breeds include: german shepherds, rottweilers, golden retrievers, great danes, labradors, and more.
In our experience, dogs with hip dysplasia will often bunny hop, avoid jumping or stairs, will sit sloppy, or will sway through the hips when ambulating. Upon examination, these pets often have noted clicking through the hips and noted muscle loss through the hind end. Please schedule a visit with your vet to have your animal evaluated for this condition if you suspect your animal may be dealing with hip pain!
What causes Hip Dysplasia?
👉🏻 Hip dysplasia can be complicated. Hip dysplasia can effect both young and older dogs so the cause of the condition may be different depending on the pet's age. In younger dogs, hip dysplasia could be due to genetic malformation or laxity (aka looseness) in the hip joint. This means that the bones could be malformed / under developed or the ligaments and muscles have improper tone to hold everything together. This most often results in gait changes and clicking and popping in the joint, but not always obvious pain.
In older dogs, hips dysplasia is often secondary to arthritic changes in the joint. This can be a little bit of a chicken or the egg situation. Did the malformation and laxity happen due to the arthritis or vice versa? A young dog in theory could be be asymptomatic and then develop dysplasia over time as well. Most of older dogs will exhibit a change in routine, obvious gait changes, and noted pain and intolerance to certain behaviors (such as jumping or doing stairs.)
Will animal chiropractic care help my dog with Hip Dysplasia?
👉🏻 The "success" of animal chiropractic care can vary depending on the severity of the problem, the length of time a pet has been struggling with a complaint, and the quality of the provider.
Please visit a veterinarian if you suspect your pet may have this condition / to get a diagnosis of how severe the problem may be.
The greater the severity, the less possibility of response to conservative management. If you believe your pet may be suffering with hip dysplasia, it is important to talk to your vet and consider pursuing diagnostics (such as xrays) prior to getting your pet adjusted.
Ongoing animal chiropractic care can help to improve alignment of your pet's anatomy to improve their knee tracking and prevent further wear and tear. It's also important to not only address the knees, but particularly other compensatory areas such as the pelvis, hips, and lower back due to chronic limp or lameness problems caused by your pet's hip pain.
It's important that when choosing care for your animal that you do your research. Not all providers are created equally!
When choosing an animal chiropractor, be sure to choose a TRAINED PROFESSIONAL.
Only veterinarians or chiropractors are eligible to undergo post graduate education in animal chiropractic. Upon completion of the coursework, these individuals may also prove proficiency via examination such as the tests offered by the American veterinary Chiropractic Association (AVCA) or International Veterinary Chiropractic Association (IVCA).
Common vernacular or abbreviations include:
Certified animal chiropractor (CAC)
Certified in veterinary chiropractic (CVC)
Certified in veterinary spinal manipulative therapy (CVSMT)
Certified AVCA or IVCA (cAVCA, cIVCA)
A licensed, trained, and certified provider is going to be the most responsible choice when moving forward with animal chiropractic care.
You should avoid the following:
provider does not do a thorough evaluation
provider does not evaluate pre AND post treatment
provider uses excessive force and/or theatrics during treatment
pet is excessively uncomfortable or painful during treatment
provider cannot answer your questions about what they are doing
provider continues to treat without any signs of measurable improvement
provider cannot answer where they received training, their license #, or if they have insurance
It is advisable that you seek animal chiropractic care in supplement to your existing vet care.
Numerous conditions and unexplained symptoms can often be improved with animal chiropractic treatment, however, a primary care veterinarian should always be involved and routinely monitoring your animal for signs of degrading health status so that further diagnostics and/or interventions can be explored if necessary.
Across the United States there are different rules and laws about animal chiropractic care. In a select few states pets can see an animal chiropractor without first consulting a veterinarian... whereas in many other states an animal chiropractor may require a written referral or direct veterinary supervision. Please be mindful of this as it could delay your pet's accessibility to an appointment should they immediately be in need.
In Summary
It's important to remember that hip dysplasia is a common issue amongst large breed dogs. There is a genetic component and it can affect younger and older dogs with slight variances in presentation
Animal chiropractic can be a valuable complementary treatment to help promote better alignment and reduce painful compensation due to inevitable gait changes that may occur.
It's important to choose a properly trained and certified provider in order to achieve the best outcome for your pet. I hope you consider adding an animal chiropractor to your animal's health care team! You can find a provider near you at animalchiropractic.org
About the author
Kaitlyn Lackey DC cAVCA
Many people don’t know that I’ve sustained 3 very serious head injuries due to horseback riding.
When I sought medical treatment for these injuries, traditional medicine "failed me."
I'm very fortunate to have found chiropractic. Getting adjusted gave me my life back after I was struggling every day with dehabilitating migraines.
After seeing what it did for me, I thought: why isn’t this available to animals, too?
I decided against vet school and instead pursued chiropractic education. I graduated Parker University in April of 2017 with 2 Bachelors and my Doctorate then later received my AVCA certification in June of 2017.
I practiced for 2 years on humans and then shifted my focus to offering chiropractic care for animals full time in 2019. I now travel across North Dallas offering care to all sorts of animals.
I continue to do all that I can to practice evidence informed and patient centric chiropractic care to guarantee that my clients receive the best results.
DISCLAIMER
We operate in full compliance with all laws and regulations. Our services are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any specific illness or condition and should only be used as a complement to routine veterinary and/or medical care. Chiropractic may provide support and encourage the body into its most optimal state of health. The content provided herein is informational only and is not to be construed as medical or veterinary advice.
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We are certified by the AVCA which is a top notch and rigorous certification program of 200+ hours class time followed by a written and practical board exam. We take 10 yearly hours of continuing education because we value knowing the most in order to provide the best.
When choosing chiropractic for your pet, choose someone licensed, trained, and certified.
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