Why is manual therapy so important? At Arfit, our hands are our primary tools. We use them for evaluation and treatment. The art of manual therapy takes years to learn and many more years to perfect. Each of our therapists are trained for thousands of hours on hundreds of dogs learning dozens of techniques.
With our hands, we detect muscle spasms, inflammation, tendon tightness, joint and muscle stiffness, as well as pain, overuse and weakness. We detect different sensations in each of these conditions through touch. Once we determine these issues, we begin treatment.
Using a variety of manual techniques, we gently relax tight and painful muscles, we stretch muscles, tendons, and joints. We mold, place and position our patients back into normal postures. Postures they’ve slowly lost due to pain, injury and weakness.
Just like with people, whether your bench pressing, swinging a tennis racket, a golf club or doing the salsa, form is important. Dogs cannot exercise properly until they achieve proper posture. Manual therapy is almost always necessary to achieve proper posture. Many rehab centers skip this step and go right into water therapy and exercise, resulting in suboptimal recovery and reduced success. Proper form and balance are essential to achieving maximum strength.
At Arfit, our goal is to make your dog the best they can be. Because the stronger you get, the further away you are from being weak.