No pet owner wishes to see their pet suffer pain or reduced mobility and function as the result of conditions such as osteoarthritis, hip or elbow dysplasia, injuries including burns, fractures, recent surgery, traumas such as bite/fight wounds, vehicle mishaps, spinal disc protrusions, or other acute or chronic conditions. Veterinary Healing and Advanced Imaging in Pleasant Hill, CA offers Alternative Pain Management strategies for pets and their owners looking for safe, beneficial and effective non-drug pet pain options.

How do we define pain in animals? The answer lies in how we define pain in humans, who are capable of communicating what they feel. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP; www.IASP-pain.org) defines pain...as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage". How does perception of pain get from damaged tissues to the brain? The answer lies in Nociceptors, which are detectors found in skin, muscles, joints and viscera (internal organs). The stimuli that activate Nociceptors are not the same in all tissues but in general include Thermal, Mechanical and Chemical stimuli. Chemical stimuli to Nociceptors include a bombardment of a cascade of inflammatory mediators released by tissues responding to insult and injury. Basically a "Call to Help". The end result of all Noxious stimuli is the activation of spinal cord and brain pathways and programmed reactions to these stimuli. Some reactions are instant and include acute aversive (pulling away) responses, yet others can induce chronic (long term) responses that basically reprogram the Central Nervous System to issue constant Pain perception responses.

Traditional management strategies for pain span millennia with many cultural approaches to pain. Western medicine has focused on Drug therapy for pain management as pathways Inflammatory Mediators use can be disrupted or altered, reducing pain perception, but not without potential side effects on other organs. Older (sometimes Ancient) remedies often fail to match Western remedies in their effectiveness. NEW remedies in the treatment of Acute and Chronic pain have arrived and show great promise. Veterinary Healing & Advanced Imaging in Pleasant Hill, CA offers 1064 nanometer High Intensity Laser Therapy (HILT) and Platelet Rich Plasma infusion treatments as New Alternative Strategies and Non-Drug Management of Pain in Pets, which show great potential for relief of pain and inflammation over other Drug and non-Drug strategies for management of acute and chronic pain in animals.  http://epicamed.com/products/artemis

Laser Therapy at 1064 nanometer wavelength offers an amazing new Window into the body for delivery of powerful light energy to tissues enabling reduction in Inflammation. Increased circulation results through the cellular release of Nitric Oxide which in turn, reduces swelling and edema and stimulates healing through increased cellular activities. Artemis is a unique Laser Therapeutic device that, through a Q-Switch mechanism, delivers powerful light energy significantly deeper into tissue than low power lasers thus allowing its powerful Anti-inflammatory and Regenerative effects to be delivered to more tissues and organs in need.

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is another natural (Non-Drug) way to combat inflammation and relieve pain in pets through use of the body's own mechanisms for defense and repair. Platelets, long-known for their ability to stimulate clotting when blood vessels are compromised, also possess over 250 natural growth and healing factors that are simultaneously released when platelets reach their injured target. These same growth and healing factors work wonders when delivered to other sites of injury and inflammation and can be useful to trigger accelerated healing and pain relief when delivered to these targets. In a relatively simple process, a patient's own blood is collected and processed in a two step process to separate blood cells from the Plasma and, again, to separate the Platelet poor plasma from the Platelet Rich Plasma, which is then injected into targets needing relief of inflammation and stimulation of healing. Remarkable and speedy results have been seen with Platelet Rich Plasma infusion to speed healing in Professional Athletes. At Veterinary Healing and Imaging, we bring this exceptional healing strategy to pet athletes and other pets with injuries and debilitations that prevent them from leading normal, active, pain-free lives: and all without drugs! Veterinary Healing & Advanced Imaging is located in Pleasant Hill, CA. www.veterinaryhealingandimaging.com 1945 Contra Costa Blvd Ste B, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523, ph 925-265-8385