Tendon Injuries in Horses
Tendon injuries in horses are common and affect equines worldwide, resulting from acute or chronic overloading. The recovery process alone is often long and unpredictable, and leading to weaknesses of the tendon and increasing the risk of re-injury.
LED Treatment significantly improves tendon repair – scientifically proven. The treatment shortens and improves the recovery process during all three injury phases.
The tendon recovery process can be divided into three main phases: inflammatory, proliferation, and remodelling. LED Treatment repair mechanisms differ in each stage.
Based on clinical and animal studies, the mechanism of the light therapy system promoting tendon injury repair involves:
– Reducing the production of inflammatory factors.
– Accelerating the release of anti-inflammatory factors.
– Promoting angiogenesis.
What is a Tendon Injury?
Tendons consist of fibrous connective tissue bands, which sit at each end of a muscle. The tendon attaches the muscle to the skeleton. When a tendon gets overloaded, it can lead to fibres being stretched too much, thereby being damaged or lost. When this happens, the body responds with inflammation.
How to Detect a Tendon Injury
A slight tendon injury can be challenging to detect. Diffuse symptoms such as a slight increase in heat and swelling over the affected tendon that quickly disappears may be the only signs. More severe injuries cause more heat, swelling, and pain. It is common for the horse to limp, but the limping usually decreases significantly after just a few days.
Common symptoms:
– Heat
– Swelling
– Pain when pressing over the injured tendon
– Limping
The Three Stages in Tendon Recovery
The first phase is the inflammatory phase, which occurs within 48 hours of the injury and lasts about a week. In this phase, the injured tissue fills with blood clots, fibrin attaches to the damaged tissue, and inflammation develops. Light therapy during this phase activates a large number of vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) and promotes angiogenesis.
The next phase, the proliferative phase, lasts a few weeks and is mainly characterized by the formation of a large amount of granulation tissue, including collagen fibers. During this phase, light therapy increases the amount of collagen type III, which improves the tendon’s ability to heal.
The final phase is the remodelling phase, which lasts for months and is characterized by a remodelling of the ECM, which is accompanied by a significant reduction or apoptosis of cells, a reduction of type III collagen, and the promotion of type I collagen synthesis. Throughout the remodelling phase, treatment with light therapy will activate M2 macrophages and downregulate inflammatory factors, thus reducing inflammatory responses.
Recommended LED Treatment Systems for Tendon Injuries in Horses
LED Treatment will remarkably improve the recovery process in all three phases of tendon injuries in horses. We recommend five minutes 2-3 times daily until the injury is healed. After that, once a day to prevent the injury from occurring again.
Give your horse the best possible chance for a successful recovery.
