Shockwave and other rehab modalities

[lehughes]

Hi Laurie- I am a CCRP in the Portland Maine area. Shock wave therapy has recently come to our area at a nearby rehab hospital. We currently had only our 2nd dog receive the shockwave treatment and the owner was concerned that performing the shockwave and doing rehab at the same time may be detrimental, when she experienced increased lameness (biceps and supraspinatus tendonitis). I called over to the rehab hospital and they were not able to give us much direction as to what would be appropriate for rehab while a dog is receiving these treatments. My colleagues and I talked about it and felt that rehab would be beneficial but didn't know if we should alter what we are doing while the dog is receiving these treatments. Do we still perform LLLT? We didn't know what your experience has been. Thank you so much for any insight and guidance you can give us. - J

[lehughes]

Hi J,

So, shockwave and other therapies go very well together! There is no need to deny other rehab therapies after shockwave. I do them all in one treatment. Everything is designed to stimulate tissue healing, increase blood flow, and so on… just using different mechanisms of action!
So, the answer is ‘Go for it!’

I hope this helps!

Laurie

[dizzy downunder]

I would love to hear how you price this out Laurie.
I am very happy to use several therapies in all the sessions I perform, but justifying a new modality and just using it as an add on will not go down well with the people who keep reminding me I am supposed to be making a living at this business, not just spreading the love

[lehughes]

I charge like I would in human practice.

You buy me (my brains, my hands, my tools) and my time. Physios don't charge by modality. I don't want an owner telling me "Yes to this, No to that." What do they know? Nothing! So make your charge high enough that it covers anything you would want to do within the time you have available with the patient - be it exercise, manual therapy, acupuncture, shockwave, etc.

In my opinion it's the only professional way to go about it in this area of practice. I don't want the owners picking and choosing. I am not providing 'a la carte' services.

I know that this is a very different way of approaching pricing as compared to Vet Medicine... but I stick by it. Owners are happy. I can provide whatever services I think are most appropriate. And I can still feed my family!

Laurie

[dizzy downunder]

Probably a whole subject for a different board. Thanks for your input Laurie