Thursday, March 3, 2011

The Tardy Blogger: In Which Dr. Salewski Relates His Latest Goings On

I know, I know. Seems like I fell off the edge of the world, it's been so long between entries. But I have an excuse, I swear.

Winter is supposed to be the slow time for vets, especially those of us who work on a lot of horses, but, amazingly enough time has been at a premium in early 2011. Daniel, my oldest, played basketball for his school (and was nicknamed "Bullet" by the coaches). My youngest, Colin, had a birthday in February, which not only involved a trip to the
Oregon Coast Aquarium, it was the perfect excuse for Lynne to make the best Devil's Food Cake on the planet (the secret ingredient is beets). And of course, tax season approaches. So what?, you might say. I have children, I have work to do, I have taxes to work on and my only pleasure in life is reading Written In Hindsight. To which I reply: well, really, shouldn't you be getting out more? Regardless, I was able to get back to it this week and will use the time to catch y'all up on some of the recent highlights here at the practice.

A Trip to UC-Davis

This happened last week, but obviously took some time to prepare for. A few months ago I was asked to be one of the speakers at the UCD Veterinary College annual Holistic Veterinary Symposium, which is open to both veterinary professionals and the public. I had a Powerpoint (well, a Keynote, the vastly superior Mac version) entitled Performance: Strategies for Animal Athletes, which I had given before and thought might be appropriate. Had aspirations of posting the presentation here, but it's a two-hour talk, and thought a summary of the main points might work better.

The idea behind this lecture is to define "performance" and follow up with discussion on various holistic/complementary modalities as they apply to this definition. In the dictionary, performance, at least in the context of this talk, is defined as "an action, task, or operation, seen in terms of how successfully it was performed". Of course, success is going to be seen differently by different people. It might mean a blue ribbon to some, or getting through a course without penalty to others. Heck, it might be as simple as staying in the saddle for the whole ride. Point is, in my opinion there are three main factors influencing performance: movement, pain, and behavior. (Wonder if I can trademark something like The Performance Triumvirate? Hmmm, have to file that under Pretentious Ideas I'll Never Work On)

The lecture goes on to discuss therapies. Under movement, chiropractic, bodywork, and rehabilitative/physical therapies are put forth as the best option to optimize movement. Chiropractic frees up movement in the joints of the spine; massage releases restrictions in soft tissue; Physical therapy restores range of motion, neurologic health, and condition; especially following injury or surgery.

In animals with pain, all those above therapies can be utilized, but so can traditional Chinese veterinary medicine and homeopathy. TCVM holds that blockage of the channels, or meridians, is the mechanism that leads to pain. This blockage can be removed, most famously by acupuncture, but also with herbal formulas and tui-na, a type of Chinese massage. Homeopathy takes a different approach, using the energetics of very dilute remedies to allow the body to heal itself.

Behavior, in particular fear and aggression, are not generally treated effectively with the manipulative therapies. Acupuncture and homeopathy can have a place in altering behavior, but the botanicals really shine in this area. This includes Chinese herbal formulas, which work to balance the
Shen, or spirit; Bach flower remedies that dispel negative emotional states and aromatherapy, which affects the brain via the limbic system. Of course other herbal systems like Ayurvedic medicine and the North American herbs offer plant-sourced behavioral modification, like ashwagandha or valerian root.

Th essence of this talk was to give the attendees a different perspective on performance; looking at how what might be considered minor issues--a little stiffness here, a little anxiety there, can mean the difference between being in or out of the ribbons. An animal may still be able to go in the ring and do the job, but by having a good game plan we can optimize the chance of success.

Fingers To The Bone

More than a few people have been asking about my writing lately; and not just scolding about the dearth of blog entries. Mostly it's been about the sequel to my last novel, Barn Politics, and when that might be finished. Well, I'm happy to report that I've been getting a lot of writing done recently. Unfortunately, this has not taken the form of fiction writing. Jordan Pascoe and his latest adventure will take a back seat and remain in outline form for the time being.

The last few months
Dr. Signe Beebe and I have put the finishing touches on Veterinary Applications of Chinese Herbal Formulas, a comprehensive textbook on the topic that has taken years to put together. We expect this work to be published within the next few months. That sounds like plenty of free time for fiction, eh? Well, about the time Veterinary Applications was nearing completion I was approached by a British publisher about putting an equine chiropractic book together. This, as many of you know, is a subject dear to my heart. I'm being given a very lose rein (rimshot please) for this project, meaning it will be geared more toward horse-people than veterinarians and I'll be able to write in my casual smart-ass style. The other good thing is a tight deadline, meaning I should be able to get back to that sequel by the end of summer.

A Little Audio

Last month Megan Ayrault at All About Animal Massage interviewed me for some online training classes offered on her website. MP3 files of those interviews are below:

Equine Back Pain:

SalewskiEquineBack


Canine Hip issues:

SalewskiDogHips


Hope that's enough to keep everyone entertained for a bit!