Sure glad it was not OSA!!!!! I have never heard ofbicipital tenosynovitis, but have not (luckily) had to look up something like it.
Lark completed her 4 weeks of doxycycline after getting a positive result for ehrlichiosis on a recent SNAP 4DX. Her forearm limping improved some, although not completely, but I've been restricting her activity mostly to leash walks. I learned that doxycycline has some anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritis properties so that complicated things some. It can never be straight-forward, can it? Our general vet thought she was probably getting some arthritis in her one elbow that was of concern 5 years ago when she was a youngster but for which she never got surgery. She gave me some Galliprant to give if she was having a bad day.
Because she was still limping and is only 5 years old, I didn't want to assume it was "just arthritis" and start giving her NSAIDs for the next several years without being certain that's what it was. Henry was coming and I want them to be able to play together, also, so I made an appointment for her to be evaluated at an orthopedic and sports medicine practice.
Now I know of an issue that is apparently more common in labs than other breeds but one I'd never heard of- bicipital tenosynovitis. It's similar in nature to human rotator cuff pain, except dogs don't have a rotator cuff. Her biceps on both sides were tense and seemed painful on exam. X-rays of her elbows, shoulders, and neck did not show significant issues anywhere. For this week she's on some muscle relaxants. We're going to continue limiting her exercise to leashed walks and try some physical therapy, maybe to include laser or underwater treadmill once the inflammation subsides some more. I'll be doing some stretching and range of motion here with her at home, as much as she'll agree to.
Happily the xrays of her elbows show normal (!) elbow structure with no arthritis so not doing elbow surgery 5 years ago turned out to be the correct decision. Because I was never sure there truly was no issue with her elbow, I've been pretty careful over the years about not encouraging her to jump out of the back of my car, she doesn't do agility, stuff that might aggravate an iffy elbow joint but she otherwise did what she wanted. We also had a bull mastiff years ago who was limping and we were told she had arthritis. It turned out to be osteosarcoma, so that was in the back of my mind also. Yay- not her elbow! Yay- not osteosarcoma!
I'm really glad I took her to be evaluated and we're hopeful that the PT will be helpful to her. She and Henry have met each other and walk around together some but the vet doesn't want her play bowing and bouncing back and forth with a toy or racing around outside at this point. Plus, I'd like him to get some size on him before they do too much rough-housing anyway so I'm good with these things. I really hope the PT works.
For those of you who are also unfamiliar with bicipital tenosynovitis, here's an article:
Tenosynovitis - TopDogHealth.com
Sure glad it was not OSA!!!!! I have never heard ofbicipital tenosynovitis, but have not (luckily) had to look up something like it.
smartrock (09-24-2018)
Very interesting! I'm glad it's not OSA or arthritis. Thanks for posting and adding to the board knowledge.
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smartrock (09-24-2018)
One of my Facebook breeder friends has really good results with Cold Laser treatments for for tissue injuries, you may want to inquire about it.
SO glad it is not osteosarcoma, or arthritis, or ED! Hang in there Lark, I hope she feels better soon.
smartrock (09-24-2018)
I am impressed with cold laser too. Thanks for the link, I wonder if anyone thought of that, or knew, when Oban started limping years ago. He stopped though.
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smartrock (09-25-2018)
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