Muscle Rehabilitation Techniques and Prevention of Injury.

Abstract

Rehabilitation following muscle injury is critical in restoring the equine athlete to full function. Rehabilitation protocols should be tailored to each patient's global functional assessment, taking into account sports-specific demands, goals for return-to-performance, and overall prognosis. Rehabilitation protocols are often designed to modulate pain, enhance repair, improve proprioception, increase flexibility, restore muscle strength, joint range-of-motion, and neuromotor control. This article will review mechanisms of muscle injury, various physical modalities commonly employed in the rehabilitation period following muscle injury, and injury prevention.