Rupture

A rupture is a soft tissue injury where the muscle belly, tendon or ligament is completely torn in two. It is classified as a third degree strain (or sprain if its a ligament). In the tendon a rupture means the muscles points of attachment has been entirely severed from the bone; as the muscle works as a lever via its tendon, it will no longer produce the movement if its not attached to the bone.

Rehabilitation time is around 3 months and it is crucial that alongside your normal veterinary care your embark on a course of massage treatment for your dog; infact referring to a qualified canine massage practitioner is considered part of Best Practice now for many vets.

As the muscle or tendon beings to heal, large amounts of scar tissue are produced that can actually impede movement after the injury has healed and often feels like a bag of marbles underneath the skin.

A common rupture is rupture of the tendon of the gluteals. If this happens your dog will be unable to jump and will find it difficult, if at all able, to climb stairs. Quite often the scar tissue will be in the middle (belly) of the muscle which will make the muscle weak and leave it prone to further and reoccurring injury. For a rupture there simply is no better modality of treatment than massage.

There are 3 degrees of muscular rupture

-1st Degree  A muscular strain (pulled muscle), painful but the muscle does not lose too much range of motion and strength.

-2nd Degree Stops short of a complete rupture and will be incredibly painful, the muscle will be very sore and tender to the touch, there may be a slight raised bump or depression in the area. May affect walking and induce lameness/limping.

-3rd Degree  A complete tear across the muscle. The muscle looses its normal ability to contract and the dog may be unable to weight bear on the affected limb, may not be able to jump or go and down stairs or may keep on sitting down as they find it to painful to stand. The torn end of the muscle feels like a ball underneath the skin. If caught in time the muscle may require surgery. If it is not caught in time clinical massage can help to break down scar tissue and adhesions to give the muscle back some of its former strength.

Massage can help rupture by:

• Improving recovery time
• Speeding up natural healing
• Breaking down disruptive scar tissue to allow proper muscular contraction
• Restructuring new muscle and encouraging correct striation of new muscle
• Dealing with other areas of overcompensation and pain referral that may be causing your dog discomfort
• Providing injury rehabilitation

Signs of a Rupture

• Lameness/limping
• Unable to weight bear on a leg
• Dog keeps sitting down
• Unable to jump
• Unable to get in/out of car
• Muscle wastage
• Unable to do normal activities they didn`t have a problem with before
• Unable to go up or down stairs
• Whining in pain
• Walking with a strange gait
• Dropping the shoulder
• Unable to turn neck properly
• Sudden dropping down on a walk or run

Ruptures often go undiagnosed and may be simply classed as a soft tissue injury. It is imperative that you see a vet and a qualified and insured Canine Masseuse, via the permission of your vet, who has the experience and ability to deal with this debilitating type of injury. If caught early enough the tissue can be remodeled, if it is an old injury the dog will be holding extreme areas of overcompensation and pain referral

Types of 3rd Degree Ruptures I have seen & treated include

• Rupture of the Gluteal Muscle (rump)
• Rupture of the External Abdominal Obliques (lower back)
• Rupture of the tendon of the Trapezius (middle of back)
• Rupture of the Iliocostalis muscle (lower back)
• Rupture of the Tensor Fascia Lata (outside back leg particularly common in the greyhound)
• Anterior Cruciate Ligament (true knee or Stifle)
• Gracilis muscle rupture - inside back leg e(common in agility/obedience/working dogs)
• Achilles Tendon (hock) rupture (back of back leg)