Re: RC: pulled muscle

[JPascu@aol.com]

In a message dated 3/28/99 7:08:56 PM Mountain Standard Time,
Olympian06@aol.com writes:

> Hi all (this is my last question I promise!).......My horse came up lame 2
>  weeks ago, had the vet come out and diagnosed a shoulder injury, possibly a
>  bicep muscle pull (hopefully), could be a tear or an injured bursa (lets 
> hope
>  not!).  I hand walked him and he got a little lamer (head bobbing) but 
> lately
>  seems to be getting better.  He has a small *dip* at the point of his
>  shoulder.....has anyone had this happen, maybe a muscle spasm of some
sort?? 

I would be more inclined to think it's the tendon in that location. 
You didn't mention what your DVM suggested as therapy for the injury. Is there
still heat there? Does the leg swing out and back evenly and on a line similar
to the other side? Has the horse pulled his shoulder forward to relieve the
biceps? Are you able to palpate a spasm in the biceps? Does is feel different
from the other side? Are the Triceps hyper (tight) or hypo (loose) tonic? (
because of the reciprocal inhibition between the biceps and triceps, when the
biceps is turned "on" the triceps should be turned "off". This would give some
clue to the "state" of the nervous system and whether the tendon is
involved.).
When the horse is standing is he keeping his head straight or to one side,
especially the side of the injury? 
There is a simple way to release the tension in a tendon. However, the Biceps
is part of the front leg stay system and you may need to do it often. I would
be happy to tell you how to do this.
As far as using the horse, you want to be careful in your rehab believe me
there is absolutely no such thing as an isolated soft tissue injury. But the
start of any rehab is a proper diagnosis and this is up to your DVM.

hope this helped alittle

jim pascucci
Advanced Certified Rolfer
www.equisearch.com/ibt


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