Sofia Graham Veterinary Physiotherapist

20/09/2024

Teamwork can work wonders!

This gorgeous boy, Logan, has come on leaps and bounds over the last few months, having undergone kissing spines surgery to shave some of the vertebrae bone, back in the early Spring with Lingfield Equine Vets

He has been having regular The Equine Touch International bodywork sessions with me from 6 weeks post surgery, to help him recover from the surgery, unwind past trauma and develop new healthier postural patterns in his body as well as a relaxed and happy mind.

His owner has been dedicated to an exercise program of gymnastic groundwork to build correct balance and movement all at his own pace, without force or exercise aids which has given him the time to rehabilitate properly.

He has had the depth of knowledge and support for his hoof care from Penny Thorpe Applied Equine Podiatrist which is so important to help him develop healthier neural pathways through his whole body.

And more recently, Sofia Graham Veterinary Physiotherapist has come onboard to bring even more depth of knowledge and an educated eye from a Physio’s perspective.

His owner has said he has never looked so well, he is holding his weight and looking in a great place to go into winter. He is a happier and more relaxed horse all over.

I honestly don’t think you could guess he had KS surgery if you didn’t know his story. He’s a trooper ❤️

28/08/2024

We often talk about coat changes and abnormal posture being signs of discomfort and compensation, but sometimes these things aren’t that obvious, until they’re not there any more…!

This little Westie has been struggling with pain from a left cruciate injury, and arthritis. Due to her age, we’re aiming for conservative management over surgery.

So she’s contracted her body in an attempt to shift her weight forwards off her hind legs. And you can see the ‘wave’ in the fur on her side, where the connective tissue over the ‘overactive’ muscles end up pulling on the follicles, hence the change in coat direction.

This is 6 weeks of regular physio, including bodywork, active work using some basic equipment at home, laser therapy, and daily homework for the owner, alongside hydrotherapy and appropriate pain management.

Her posture has lengthened, where she doesn’t need to compensate so much, and those muscles on her side have got a much better resting tone. She’s also not flopping into a sit at every available opportunity, choosing instead to stand, because she comfortably can. And her stamina has significantly increased.

You definitely can teach an old dog new ‘tricks’, and markedly improve their levels of comfort and quality of life 💜

18/08/2024

Have you ever wondered about what a veterinary physiotherapist does?

Or do you even know we exist?
(When I meet someone new, and they ask 'so what do you do?', I'm still regularly met with 'Oh, I've never heard of that before')

There are many variations of titles - Veterinary/animal/equine/canine etc physiotherapist
Musculoskeletal therapist
Vet rehabber
Bodyworker

And so on... depending on qualifications and preferences.

But we're all aiming to help restore, maintain or improve our animals' musculoskeletal health.

This might be post-op rehab, looking after our golden-oldies and keeping them comfortable, or enhancing the performance of competing animals in a wide variety of disciplines.

We'll use a variety of hands-on techniques, electrotherapies, exercises during the session and for you to continue afterwards, and management guidance specific to your circumstances.

There's always an 'ideal protocol'. And real life is often very different.

We can help merge these circles as much as possible. We can explain why certain things have been recommended, and why you've been told to avoid others. We can guide you with where you can push things, and where you need to pull back.

It's about giving YOU as much knowledge and context as possible, to help your animals as much as you can.

So if you're feeling a bit overwhelmed being told that your dog has arthritis, or needs a hip-replacement, or that your horse has back pain, or needs steroid injections, please know that there is more support out there.

13/08/2024

Although I always say I’ll never complain about the heat, (we don’t have it enough, and I hate being cold!) days like yesterday can definitely test the limits.

I was pleasantly relieved when I turned up to my first visit of the day to find a few fans pointing our way!

Saffy definitely enjoyed a post-physio doze with the fan on her face 💜

25/07/2024

Teamwork and delegation are great things 🥰

10/07/2024

Nothing better than someone enjoying their session 💜

Some make it clearer than others if they’re enjoying themselves. Rocky usually has a good time, but he really made it obvious this time that it was the right spot. 😁

29/05/2024

Time for rehab...?

It can be really daunting to figure out what you're supposed to do, and how, when, where etc, especially at a time when you're likely already dealing with some bad news - how you got to this point in the first place.

There is no set order. There is no 'one size fits all'.

The point of a veterinary physio/vet rehabber is to guide you through the process as best we can. We're here to help.

21/04/2024

It’s so important during physical therapy and rehab to remember that there is never a ‘one size fits all’ approach, and sometimes we have to think a bit outside the box of our normal procedures and methods.

Pretty much all of my canine work involves me going on home visits, or some dogs coming to the vet clinic where I’m based once week.

Tilly is a rescue, who can be very wary of dogs and people she doesn’t know.
Her owner had some concerns about her physical comfort, but we had several things to consider that made the usual options not ideal for Tilly -

🐾She doesn’t cope well with strangers in the home, so a regular home visit was not appropriate (nor would she cope well with the clinic room at the vets I can use).

🐾She would struggle with a hands-on assessment and bodywork from a stranger.

So, instead of forcing Tilly into a difficult situation, we went for a few walks.
I met with her owner a few times so we could get to know each other, no pressure, in one of their regular walking spots.
This meant I could have a good chat with her owner, while occasionally dropping some treats on the ground for Tilly, which we then progressed to offering from the hand when she seemed more comfortable with me.
At the end of the walks, we’d offer her the opportunity to approach me - sometimes she did come over and lean against me for a short fuss, and some times she chose not to - all fine, and on her terms.

Fortunately, we’d done this a few times already when Tilly needed to have cruciate surgery.

Also very helpfully, Tilly’s owner has a number of dog-related qualifications, and knows a good bit about behaviour, management and enrichment techniques, which definitely made things a bit easier.

Due to Tilly’s needs, her owner already provides her with a lifestyle that meant we barely needed to change much about her management, and we could just talk through some techniques and strategies to aid her rehab.

Now, 6-odd weeks post-surgery, we decided to do an in-person appointment to check on Tilly’s progress.

🐾We used a contained and secure neutral space, and I set up a few obstacles so we could watch her gait and let her settle.

🐾After she’d familiarised herself a bit and settled, I offered for her to approach, and I was delighted that Tilly had remembered our previous meetings, and allowed some proper hands-on work.

She coped well with me palpating most of her body, weight shift exercises, massaging the tense areas, and even feeling around the affected stifle. (I didn’t want to push with stretches)

She would occasionally wander off and then choose to come back.

And eventually she decided she was quite happy after all, and came and laid down next to me for some more soft tissue work. 💜
She even swapped sides a few times 🥰

I was so so pleased with her - both that her leg appears to be healing well, and delighted that she was so comfortable with me being hands-on.

Sometimes we have to play the long game - by not pushing and making the dogs uncomfortable the first few times we meet, they’ll often come around.

If they won’t tolerate any hands-on, that’s okay too - much of rehab is educating and supporting the owner, and the dog doesn’t need to be touched (by me at least!) to do that. Exercises can be explained and demo’d.

There is nothing that is 100% suitable for all cases - being adaptable and considerate to the owners/guardians and the animals in our care is crucial.

17/03/2024

New logo 💜

28/01/2024

On Friday I faced one of my fears…!

I was very honoured to be asked to speak at the first National The Dog Mentor Conference, held in Bedford.

It was a great opportunity to speak to a bunch of passionate dog owners, supporting a very worthy cause, about canine physiotherapy, how physio can support their dogs, and how to identify signs that their dogs many benefit from physio.

Anyone who knew me in school or at university knew that I absolutely hated giving presentations, so voluntarily standing up in front of 50-60 odd people was a scary prospect, but it was a lovely crowd, and the talk flew past.

So huge thanks to the whole The Dog Mentor team, particularly to Jenny for inviting me, Krissi and Kerry from Happy Tails Kent (and Julie!), all the other speakers, and those who came up to me afterwards to ask questions or tell me that they enjoyed what I had to say!

02/10/2023

Back home and feeling a bit like Harry here (💜) after an intensive 3 days of learning, plus two days of driving to Devon and back!

Lots to process, but I can’t wait to put this to use. It’s a very effective but gentle method, that should work really well alongside the work I already do.

Always refreshing too to meet new people on the same wavelength, along with a few previously familiar faces ☺️

Still feel like I can’t quite string a coherent sentence together after so many days of concentrating hard, so will be aiming to get back to messages and paperwork again from tomorrow!

22/04/2023

Firstly, apologies that this page has been so quiet for some time - have been keeping very busy so updating social media fell a few steps down the priority list!

I will be trying harder to keep it up-to-date with what I’ve been up to, so now seems a great time to start as I’ve just had two more fabulous days of CPD, this time focusing on the hyoid.

Deja-vu, you say?

I’ve spent years being mildly obsessed with hyoids, and I have posted about what I’ve learned on those courses before, so it may seem strange that I’ve done it again.

(The hyoid apparatus is a structure made up of several bones that forms a ‘sling’ to support the larynx and base of the tongue.)

However. It’s been several years since last time, and in this line of work, things can change, and we rapidly learn more. It was great to re-visit the discussion, plus it makes me very happy when we can learn about similar subjects from different backgrounds, and they still reach the same conclusion - surely that must mean we’re on to something good, and I remain convinced that hyoids are hugely influential in equine, and CANINE bodies.

Highlighting canine there, as there has been growing interest in the equine hyoid over the years, but this was the first time I’d encountered an opportunity to learn about the canine hyoid.

We discussed multiple considerations on each day, that mostly can apply across species, and breeds, including potential effects of

🔹general handling
🔹equipment
🔹ear infections
🔹animals that have undergone general anaesthesia
🔹dental/TMJ issues
🔹influence on biomechanics

Followed by multiple assessment and treatment techniques, focusing on horses one day, and dogs the next.

Definitely feeling refreshed and lots to mull over.

Pictures below of some of equine hyoids - I don’t have a canine one for comparison - they look quite different!