# Cold Laser Therapy for ACL tear??



## Yaichi's Mom (Jul 21, 2012)

So sorry to hear that your girl has a partially torn ACL.

I went through the same with Brisby 2 summers ago. My DVM recommended CM ( conservative management) in lieu of surgery ( TPLO, other).

Brisby's therapy consisted of acupuncture, laser therapy, supplements ( 4Cyte) and Jing Tang Cruciate Ligament in addition to limiting weight bearing exercise, running, jumping etc...but lots of swimming ( non weight bearing) to reduce loss of muscle mass.

The CM took a long time however Brisby built up enough scar tissue to hold the stifle in place. She is walking, running and jumping pain free. 

I believe that the laser treatment along with the protocol above really helped her. I also know of others who have had excellent results with laser therapy.

Wishing your girl a successful recovery.


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## AnnieO (Jun 9, 2017)

Thanks for the info. How long was the recovery for that? My vet recommended 28 days to start and go from there. Seems that it's not too bad, so he's hoping that will be enough time to heal it. It's so hard keeping her quiet. She's a 1 year old with plenty of energy to go around.


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## Yaichi's Mom (Jul 21, 2012)

AnnieO said:


> Thanks for the info. How long was the recovery for that? My vet recommended 28 days to start and go from there. Seems that it's not too bad, so he's hoping that will be enough time to heal it. It's so hard keeping her quiet. She's a 1 year old with plenty of energy to go around.


We started with laser/acupuncture once/week, then tapered to twice a week and then down to once/month as maintenance. 

I totally understand how difficult it is to keep them quiet. Brisby was 2 when she blew her right stifle. Short leash walks were not doing it for her. What saved us was, that it was summer and I could let her burn off energy by swimming. Do you have anywhere with a non rocky, level entry where you can take your girl for swimming? I was fortunate as we have a pool and a nice level beach on Lake Ontario that I could take Brisby to burn off some of that energy during the healing process. 

Total recovery was 6 - 8 months. I could tell immediately when she over-did activity as the toe touching on the rear leg would return and she would limp intermittently when she got up from rest. When I observed this, I knew we had to cut back on exercise to let the leg heal. 

The ACL will never regenerate, however the stifle will form scar tissue which will hold it in place. 

Both of Brisby's DVMs used CM as the protocol for their own dogs torn ACLs .


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## AnnieO (Jun 9, 2017)

Yaichi's Mom said:


> AnnieO said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks for the info. How long was the recovery for that? My vet recommended 28 days to start and go from there. Seems that it's not too bad, so he's hoping that will be enough time to heal it. It's so hard keeping her quiet. She's a 1 year old with plenty of energy to go around.
> ...


Yikes 6-8 months is a long time. *sigh* oh well. Maybe it won't be so long for her. But either way it'll work out in the end. This poor puppy has a little black cloud over her, I swear. She has so many issues so one more shouldn't shock me. Thanks for the input. It's much appreciated. I'm happy to hear your pup made a full recovery!


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## Yaichi's Mom (Jul 21, 2012)

Really no longer than ideal recovery from a TPLO, however much less invasive.

Arthritis will likely result result with either protocol.


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## AnnieO (Jun 9, 2017)

Yaichi's Mom said:


> Really no longer than ideal recovery from a TPLO, however much less invasive.
> 
> Arthritis will likely result result with either protocol.


Yea I realized that. It's such a shame our pups have to go through this. especially when they're so young  
Thanks again for you help and advice. I've seen a little improvement already (although it could just be me getting my hopes up) but time will tell! 
Thanks!


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## Itzdor (Sep 3, 2019)

*CCL tear*

Hi, I see this posting is two years old, but I’m wondering if we could message about CM for a torn CCL? My boy did this in August and for various reasons I am not able to do surgery or braces so am using CM.


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## AnnieO (Jun 9, 2017)

Itzdor said:


> Hi, I see this posting is two years old, but I’m wondering if we could message about CM for a torn CCL? My boy did this in August and for various reasons I am not able to do surgery or braces so am using CM.


Yes of course. My pup didn’t have a full ACL tear but with laser therapy and physical therapy she ended up making a full recovery and I haven’t seen any issues since.


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## Itzdor (Sep 3, 2019)

AnnieO said:


> Yes of course. My pup didn’t have a full ACL tear but with laser therapy and physical therapy she ended up making a full recovery and I haven’t seen any issues since.


Thank you. It’s just encouraging to know that someone else did not do surgery or use braces. Both of these options are out of my price range, but because my boy has a heart condition, I wouldn’t put him under anesthesia anyhow. We are nine weeks post injury and I am seeing improvement by just using conservative management. He gets a mostly raw diet with many supplements and I use Vet’s Best Aches and Pains when needed. It’s rest, rest, rest at this time. Walks are brief, but he does weight bear, only toe touching when first getting up. He has aqua therapy and cold laser treatments weekly now, twice a week for the first 8 weeks.

If you think I’m missing something, please let me know. Thank you.


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## AnnieO (Jun 9, 2017)

Itzdor said:


> AnnieO said:
> 
> 
> > Yes of course. My pup didn’t have a full ACL tear but with laser therapy and physical therapy she ended up making a full recovery and I haven’t seen any issues since.
> ...


I think you’re doing all the right things at this time. Swimming definitely helps. It’s non weight bearing and helps build muscle around the area which will help supporting the damamged joint. My pup was young when it happened to her and she hasn’t had any issues since then at all. 
My older golden had a fully torn ACL and we did the TPLO surgery for her. It helped a lot but she’s getting up there in years now and she still occasionally limps on it, usually the day after a lot of exercise like a hike or something. 
After her surgery I did some physical therapy with her myself at home that might help your pup. You can hold the foot and place your other hand by the hip joint and just move the whole leg in a kind of circular motion, so it’s going front to back and all of the joints are bending and then stretching. You don’t need to apply much pressure, but just the movement helps. And then reverse the direction so you’d be going in a backwards circle. 
Hope all of this was helpful!


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## Itzdor (Sep 3, 2019)

AnnieO said:


> I think you’re doing all the right things at this time. Swimming definitely helps. It’s non weight bearing and helps build muscle around the area which will help supporting the damamged joint. My pup was young when it happened to her and she hasn’t had any issues since then at all.
> My older golden had a fully torn ACL and we did the TPLO surgery for her. It helped a lot but she’s getting up there in years now and she still occasionally limps on it, usually the day after a lot of exercise like a hike or something.
> After her surgery I did some physical therapy with her myself at home that might help your pup. You can hold the foot and place your other hand by the hip joint and just move the whole leg in a kind of circular motion, so it’s going front to back and all of the joints are bending and then stretching. You don’t need to apply much pressure, but just the movement helps. And then reverse the direction so you’d be going in a backwards circle.
> Hope all of this was helpful!


Thank you. I will try those. We are just entering his fourth month and I am resigned for it to be many more months of recovery. I keep second guessing myself, perhaps that is normal. All I do, it seems to me, is watch him walk! I analyze everything!


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