Laurie's Blogs.

 

06
Sep 2025

Exploring Canine Behavior and Cognitive State in Physical Rehabilitation of Non-ambulatory Spinal Cord Patients

Physical rehabilitation (PR) has become a cornerstone in veterinary medicine for managing spinal cord injuries in dogs, helping to improve muscle elasticity, joint mobility, nerve health, and even cardiopulmonary fitness in non-ambulatory patients. A recent conceptual analysis by...
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30
Aug 2025

Extrapolating From Humans – Might Strength Training Improve Time to Exhaustion in High Intensity Activities?

You know me by now… “I came across a paper that inspired this blog.”  The title of the paper:  Strength Training Improves Running Economy Durability and Fatigued High-Intensity Performance in Well-Trained Male Runners: A Randomized Control Trial. ...
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23
Aug 2025

Radius-Ulna Incongruency & Conservative Management for Elbow Dysplasia

Laurie Edge-Hughes, BScPT, MAnimSt, CAFCI, CCRT, Cert. Sm. Anim. Acup / Dry Needling

A number of years ago I treated a dog with an elbow lameness.  It was a very long time ago, so the details of the case are a bit fuzzy.  Essentially, everything clinically pointed to elbow dysplasia of some sort.  The dog was owned by a young couple, and they wante...
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16
Aug 2025

Evaluating Platelet-Rich Plasma and Physical Therapy for Canine Hip Osteoarthritis: Key Findings

Laurie Edge-Hughes, BScPT, MAnimSt, CAFCI, CCRT, Cert. Sm. Anim. Acup / Dry Needling

 Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent degenerative joint disease in dogs, particularly those with hip dysplasia, leading to pain and reduced mobility. A recent study published in Animals (2020) explored the efficacy of intraarticular plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF), a pla...
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09
Aug 2025

Conservative Management of Elbow Hygromas in Dogs

Laurie Edge-Hughes, BScPT, MAnimSt, CAFCI, CCRT, Cert. Sm. Anim. Acup / Dry Needling

Last week’s dive into the veterinary research regarding elbow hygromas led to a veterinary surgeon reaching out to say that she would never operate on an elbow hygroma as a first line of treatment.  Fantastic!  So, that sparked part two of the elbow hygroma blogs....
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02
Aug 2025

Elbow Hygromas

Laurie Edge-Hughes, BScPT, MAnimSt, CAFCI, CCRT, Cert. Sm. Anim. Acup / Dry Needling

Sometimes I draw a blank when trying to come up with a blog topic.  This one started out wondering about the incidence of trochanteric bursitis in dogs (I couldn’t find articles), but then when I typed in “canine bursa” into PubMed, I got a handful of artic...
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26
Jul 2025

Canine Locomotion: Surface Electromyography Insights into Hill Walking Exercise

Laurie Edge-Hughes, BScPT, MAnimSt, CAFCI, CCRT, Cert. Sm. Anim. Acup / Dry Needling

 In the evolving field of canine rehabilitation, understanding the biomechanics of therapeutic exercises is critical for optimizing recovery protocols. A 2020 study by Miró et al., published in Animals,  provides valuable insights into the function of the longiss...
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19
Jul 2025

Electrical Muscle Stimulation in Peripheral Nerve Injuries

Laurie Edge-Hughes, BScPT, MAnimSt, CAFCI, CCRT, Cert. Sm. Anim. Acup / Dry Needling

 As tends to happen, I had a patient that made me want to research and discuss the topic if whether electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) was of value in patients with peripheral nerve injuries, such as brachial plexus lesions.   My patient was brought to see me...
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12
Jul 2025

Behavioral and Cognitive Influences on Physical Rehabilitation Outcomes in Non-Ambulatory Canine Spinal Cord Injury Patients

Laurie Edge-Hughes, BScPT, MAnimSt, CAFCI, CCRT, Cert. Sm. Anim. Acup / Dry Needling

 A 2021 research article published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science by Stephanie A. Thomovsky and Niwako Ogata investigates the interplay between canine behavior, cognitive state, and the efficacy of physical rehabilitation (PR) in dogs with spinal cord injuries (SCIs) res...
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05
Jul 2025

Diagnosis and Management of Canine Degenerative Myelopathy – Insights from a Veterinary Survey

Laurie Edge-Hughes, BScPT, MAnimSt, CAFCI, CCRT, Cert. Sm. Anim. Acup / Dry Needling

A 2023 study published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine by Bouché et al. provides insights into the diagnosis and management of degenerative myelopathy (DM) in dogs, based on a survey of veterinary neurologists and rehabilitation specialists. The survey, cond...
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