Physical therapies

Heat therapy is the application of heat to the skin, which penetrates the body to varying depths depending on the method. This primarily has a relaxing, circulation-enhancing and therefore metabolism-stimulating and pain-relieving effect.

The methods of heat therapy available to us to date are:

• Hot roll: A tightly wrapped towel that is soaked in boiling water. It can be used to heat medium to large areas of the body by increasingly unrolling the towel and releasing its heat. This means that either a larger area can be warmed for a short time or a smaller area can be warmed more intensively and constantly. The water contained in the towel conducts the heat through the superficial muscles into the deep structures of the body. This method is very suitable as a preparatory measure for the treatment of tense muscles, e.g. in the area of the entire spine. However, it can also be used on limbs to treat the muscles, tendons and joints there, e.g. for osteoarthritis and tendon damage.
• Warming cushion: A cushion filled with a heat-retaining material is heated to approx. 60 degrees and placed on the muscles. It warms the underlying structure, but does not reach as deep into the tissue as the heat transported by moisture from the hot roll. This makes the heating pad more suitable for relaxing and circulating blood to superficial structures and can be used, for example, as a relaxing preparation for treatment and before massages.
• Heating blanket: Like the heating pad, it heats the surface of the body that is in direct contact with it. Due to its large surface area, the warming blanket is suitable for warming the patient's entire body. This makes it a very good way to prepare for treatments, especially during the cold season, to relax long muscle strands and the lateral respiratory muscles.

Depending on the duration of application, cold therapy has different effects.

It can stop the circulation by applying the cold element continuously for approx. 20 minutes. This causes all blood vessels to contract, preventing the increased inflow and accumulation of blood in the tissue in the event of acute trauma, such as blunt trauma, bruises, contusions and sprains. In addition to the vasoconstrictive effect, the application of cold suppresses the signs of inflammation, such as pain, increased circumference, redness and heat, because the substances required for this are transported more slowly through the constricted vessels and nerve pathways. It is therefore one of the first measures taken in the event of acute injuries or the first signs of lameness in joints, limbs and muscles.

Depending on the cause, cryotherapy is carried out using the following methods:

• Ice lolly - ice in lolly form that is used in acute injuries to cool small areas of trauma or areas that are more difficult to access, e.g. inside the fetlock bend or from the pastern.
• Cooling packs - Ice or cooling gel is used inside a closed bag to cool small to medium-sized areas. As a cooling gaiter, it cools targeted areas of the limb.
• Cold watering - Large areas of the body can be cooled well with the help of a garden hose. For example, legs or even gluteal and long ischial muscles can be treated with prolonged irrigations after strong muscle tension, thus ensuring muscle relaxation.

Cryotherapy can also have a circulation-promoting effect if it is applied in short, repeated alternations with the ambient temperature. If an area of the body is cooled for a short period of time, e.g. 2-4 minutes with water below 18 degrees, the body then reacts automatically with targeted warming of the previously cooled area by sending more body-warm blood there ("Kneipp effect"). In addition to local blood circulation, this also activates the entire circulatory system. This measure is particularly helpful for osteoarthritis (performed on the affected joint), sore limbs, sore and tense muscles, tendon and ligament inflammation in the advanced healing process (from the 2nd week after symptoms/trauma occur)