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Hi Laurie

I was very excited to read your email tonight as last week I took delivery of a loan Chattanooga Radial Shockwave machine to trial on my five year old alpaca, the intention being to see if we could resolve calcification within the quadriceps – right hind, result of femoral nerve trauma. (Vet notes - specifically, the majority of the mineral is in the vastus lateralis I think based on the lateral location seen in the caudocranial view). Focussed shockwave may be the optimum, but that’s not an option here without involving a lot of travel.

Whilst my primary reason for investing in the machine is to improve the mobility of Luella, I also own/run Active Paws hydrotherapy centre in Wellington. I was in the process of trying to find the exact information you have referred to in your email and specifics such as protocols to get an idea of treatment options with the RSWT machine. Hence your email being so timely. Do you have protocols, topical at the moment here is iliopsoas injuries, that you are willing to share?

Thank you and kind regards,

V.C.

Hey Vicki,

I have to say that we are loving our shockwave! So, I hope you find it equally ‘loveable’ for your alpaca!

I don’t have actual protocols, because I would never use it as a stand alone treatment… but what I can tell you is that RADIAL shockwave is safe to use daily… which I would do, especially if you had the ability to do so. I’ll send you the document I created for use on dogs (My own FAQ document). It should answer most of your questions as they might pertain to Luella!
As far as protocol for iliopsoas injuries… I believe I do have one on FourLeg (Members side, click article, scroll down to protocols.) For a quick peak…but with my clinic letter head, here is what is on my iliopsoas protocol in regards to exercises… which of course are most important for a muscle injury. https://www.caninefitness.com/docs/Ilio ... otocol.pdf

Hope this helps!

Cheers,

Laurie

Hi Lauree

Thank you so much! We did a test run on Luella today and it went fabulously. Not all alpaca would be as accommodating as she is but she has been very handled since we rescued her from near death 5 1/2 years ago, when she was not quite a year old. We started with my husband holding her but we quickly saw that, as is the case with her e-stim treatment, she will just stand without any restraint for her treatment. So, yes, we will be able to treat her with the radial shockwave and it looks like I will be able to do it on my own with her so I will aim to do it daily. The local Chattanooga rep is coming on Wednesday to see how we got on.

In case it's of interest, I've attached two x-rays showing the calcification we are wanting to resolve. The calcification is a result of a significant trauma during shearing two summers. There's a lot of history with this and in brief, we have been very privileged to have help from both the equine and canine rehab vets at Tennessee, both teams suggesting shockwave in their treatment ideas.

Thank you too for the iliopsoas help. That too is much appreciated.

Your email has been so helpful!

Kind regards
V

Thought I would mention, Luella (our alpaca) is making great progress clinically post her shockwave and we yesterday started her next round of four sessions ten days apart. Some time now when she's standing in the yards, looking at her feet, I have to ask myself, which is her bad leg. We re-did x-rays early in December but unfortunately the clinician didn't take the same views, same exposure as the first round so our analysis is somewhat anecdotal but it has been said that some of the views from the last round show potentially some reduction in the calcification whilst others may look much the same. As she is much improved clinically, with improved muscle mass, we will look forward to the next round of x-rays in a couple of months when we will take the same views as both the December and May x-rays so that we can get a better comparison.

V

I’m happy to hear about Luella! And even if the x-rays don’t ‘show’ improvement, we also know that diagnostic imaging is often misleading. What you are seeing clinically is a testament in itself!

Laurie