Muscle Strains or Joint Conditions
Muscle strains and joint conditions, known as musculoskeletal injuries, are quite common. Muscle strains or tendon inflammation can result from trauma, such as falling or jumping from heights, or from repetitive use, like long walks or walking on slippery surfaces.
Common joint conditions include luxating patella (LP), elbow or hip dysplasia, and cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) injuries. Early detection is crucial to manage and slow the progression of these conditions, helping to prevent further joint degeneration.
Bone fractures, often caused by trauma like car accidents or falls, also fall under musculoskeletal injuries. They require immediate medical attention, particularly if there are no underlying medical conditions or long-term steroid use involved.
Signs & Symptoms
Muscle Strains or Tendon Inflammation
Acute muscle strain or tendon inflammation typically resolves on its own in a week. If your pet's condition does not improve or your pet's condition keeps recurring, do seek medical attention.
Signs & Symptoms include:
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Sudden limping or non-use of affected limb
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Swelling around muscle or joint
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Holding limb up in a flexed manner
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Refusal to lie onto affected limb
Client Feature
🐾 Posture Improvement After Physiotherapy
BEFORE
AFTER
Condition: Multiple forelimb joint laxities in a dog
📸 Before and after physiotherapy
Notice the improved forelimb alignment and weight-bearing following targeted rehabilitation. Improved posture helps reduce abnormal joint loading and allows for more efficient movement.
Condition: Moderate bilateral hip dysplasia
📸 Before and after physiotherapy
A dog presented with poor sitting posture and reduced hind limb stability. Following an individualised physiotherapy programme focusing on strengthening and movement retraining, the dog demonstrated improved sitting mechanics, standing posture and overall stability.
Dogs with joint laxity often show signs like poor posture, inward limb rotation, and instability when standing or walking. These subtle issues are commonly overlooked — but without early intervention, they can lead to chronic joint stress and movement compensation.
At Nimble Paws Physiotherapy Clinic, our physiotherapists assess not only the injured structure, but also how your dog moves as a whole. We identify movement compensations, muscle weakness and joint stiffness that may contribute to recurring injuries, before creating an individualised rehabilitation programme.