Canine hip dysplasia is a genetic issue affecting large-breed dogs such as Golden Retrievers. It's caused by a dog's hip joint not forming properly. Hip dysplasia can cause severe pain when a dog walks or stands, so dogs with hip dysplasia typically become inactive and lethargic. If your dog has hip dysplasia, one way that you can help alleviate the pain is by seeking animal chiropractic care for your dog. Manipulating your dog's joints can reduce inflammation along with the pain they experience from hip dysplasia. To learn more about canine hip dysplasia and how animal chiropractic care can help, read on.
What Is Canine Hip Dysplasia?
Dogs, like humans, have openings in the pelvis where the head of the femur is supposed to sit. When a dog is born with hip dysplasia, this opening is very shallow, so the head of the femur can't go all the way into the opening. The head of the femur will grind against the dog's pelvis whenever they walk or run, which irritates the bone and destroys the cartilage in the hip joint. Dogs with hip dysplasia tend to develop arthritis in their hips early on in life due to the constant grinding of bone against bone.
While dogs are born with hip dysplasia, they usually don't show symptoms until later in life. It takes some time for the accumulated damage to the bone and cartilage to cause pain. Once they start experiencing pain from hip dysplasia, they may change their gait to avoid irritating their hip joint, and they'll likely be much less active than before they started experiencing pain.
How Can Animal Chiropractic Care Reduce the Pain From Hip Dysplasia?
While hip dysplasia can't be cured because it's an issue a dog was born with, its symptoms can be managed to improve your dog's quality of life. Animal chiropractic care can help reduce the pain a dog feels when standing, walking, or running.
One of the biggest problems with hip dysplasia is that dogs naturally compensate for their painful hips by shifting weight to other parts of their body. If they only have hip dysplasia on one side of the hip, they may favor one side of their body while walking and running. If they have it on both sides, they'll shift most of their weight to their front paws.
Unfortunately, shifting weight to keep it off of the hips can result in other areas becoming overstressed. A veterinary chiropractor can gently adjust your dog's spine and joints towards an anatomically normal position, which helps alleviate pain caused by your dog trying to keep weight off their hips. Regular chiropractic care helps keep your dog's skeletal system in alignment. This helps to reduce the consequences of hip dysplasia and the pain it causes.
If your dog suffers from hip dysplasia, find an animal chiropractic service in your area and schedule an appointment. While hip dysplasia can't be reversed, gently manipulating your dog's joints can help alleviate pain and improve their quality of life.
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