At-home therapies for osteoarthritis pain

In a pre-conference interview with dvm360 to talk about his about his Fetch Long Beach session, “Alternative Therapies for Managing Osteoarthritis Pain,” Christopher Shapley, DVM, CVA, CVCH, CVFT, shared his preferred therapies for managing osteoarthritis pain in animal patients. Shapley talked about therapies that pet owners are able to do at home, explaining that some clients may find it challenging to medicate their pet or bring their dog to an acupuncture appointment.

Below is the interview transcript. It has been lightly edited for clarity.

Christopher Shapley, DVM, CVA, CVCH, CVFT: So that's a tough one because I have a whole lot that I love. Of course, my wheelhouse and my go-to is always acupuncture and herbal therapies. I'm big on, you know, weight loss as a first step for managing osteoarthritis. But honestly, a lot of clients aren't always able to come in, or it's difficult, especially if they have a larger dog to, you know, to bring their pet in for regular acupuncture. If they have a cat that has osteoarthritis pain, well that makes it even more challenging for us. And some people just can't, you know, give medications to their pets or even herbs they find it difficult.

So, I tend to think about things that owners can do at home. So the targeted pulse electromagnetic field technology absolutely one of my favorites. It really targets pain, it targets inflammation, and it really, I've seen it help a lot with osteoarthritis cases. And again, it's something that they can do at home. I'm also a big fan of like doing like laser therapy at home too, like red light therapy is also very beneficial.

So those are my favorites, mainly because, again, the targeted pulse electromagnetic field, easy enough to do at home, red light therapy, easy enough to do at home. And of course, I love doing acupuncture and I love herbal medicine, so I can't just give you one, but I got my top 3 for you at least.