Our Border Collie

It’s hard to believe that it’s been eleven years since my daughter brought home a little black and white ball of fluff that promptly curled up next to my leg and fell asleep.  Once he got rested from his three hour car ride to our home, we rarely saw him sleeping.   He’s slowed down a bit in the last couple of years, but he is still an energetic and enthusiastic dog, who is always ready for a game of fetch.

He does have days, when the cold seems to settle in his bones and it hurts to see him hurt.  It doesn't happen too often, but we want to talk with the veterinarian to see what can be done to help relieve the pain.  Half-jokingly, I told my daughter that we needed to ask about TENS Units.  A good friend, who suffered from severe degenerative arthritis in her early thirties, got a lot of relief from one of these units, which uses a small electrical charge, that is imperceptible to the wearer, to block pain signals from travelling to the brain.  While she still needed several surgeries on her ankles, her unit eliminated most of her pain and made a great improvement in her quality of life.

I didn’t seriously think that these units were intended for animals.  I could just picture our dog chewing wires or ripping the unit off.   A little research revealed that animal rehab programs do use them for dogs, since they don’t have to be worn continually to provide pain relief.  They also use Muscle Stimulators (NMES).  For both humans and canines, NMES are used to prevent muscle atrophy in inactive limbs, whether this is due to  permanent paralysis or post-surgical inactivity. There are also combination units such as the LG-TEC Dual Combo TENS Unit and Muscle Stimulator, which provide both pain relief and neuromuscular stimulation.

If you are interested in learning more, visit LGMedSupply Online and check out their online customer blog.