{"id":342,"date":"2020-03-12T17:54:27","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T17:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/handsforhorses.se\/?p=342"},"modified":"2020-03-12T17:54:28","modified_gmt":"2020-03-12T17:54:28","slug":"quo-vadis-pectoralis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/handsforhorses.se\/?p=342","title":{"rendered":"Quo vadis, Pectoralis?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Quo vadis, Pectoralis?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social media offer a wide-variety of\ninformation. Many therapists use social media to provide information about\ntheir work and knowledge. While this is an opportunity for interaction and\nlearning, it also has its challenges because the information is not\npeer-reviewed and often wrong or deceiving. Half-correct facts spread easy and\nfast with the consequence that more people share this false information.\nEspecially if therapists implement the wrong information in their therapy\npatients might get harmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other day, I stumbled over an article about equine\nM. pectoralis group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this statement it\nsays that a tense pectoralis muscles may originate from a mare in heat, when problems\nwith the digestion are present and during breathing problems. Even a girth that\nannoys the horse creates tensions in the pectoralis muscles. \u201cFeeling\u201d-receptors\nare extremely sensitive then and it occurs very easy edema. Sensitivity becomes\nobvious when the horse changes its behavior and is annoyed and volatile. Those\nmuscles should be given a careful massage, with light pressure. In the end,\nthey also warn to be aware for histamine reactions and sweetening which might\nupcome with massage of this area. (as a rough citation of the original Swedish\narticle).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interesting\nfacts about the pectoralis muscle in horses<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since horses have no collarbone, they\nlack a bony connection between their front limbs and the trunk. This gap is\nfilled by a strong muscle group consisting of the serratus ventralis thoracis\nand the pectoralis muscles. They connect the inside of the shoulder to the rib\ncage, and act like slings and suspend the chest between the front limbs of the\nhorse. Contraction of this muscle group raises the withers to the same height\nor higher than the croup resulting in an uphill motion with a reduction of the\nload on the forehand. If your horse has\nproblems in the pectoral area, it might throw his head up when transition to\ncanter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, coming back to the contribution\nI found:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. It would be important identifying the pectoralis\nmuscles described. According the textbook \u201eAnatomie der Haustiere\u201c (Anatomy\nof the house animal<\/em>\u201c) the pectoralis muscle separates into the superficial\nand deep muscle groups. Furthermore, the superficial pectoralis muscle divides into\nthree groups of muscles bellies (ascendens, transversus, and descendens). The\npectoralis muscle participates in the movement of the front leg, acts on the\nand the shoulder joint and the body of the horse. The function of the muscle groups differs and tension\nin the muscle may originate from many sources. To identify the cause for the\nincreased muscle tension will be difficult.<\/li>
  2. A careful search of available literature from\nscientists and clinically trained, we have found no evidence for a correlation\nbetween estrogen levels and tensions in pectoralis muscle group. The same holds\nfor a correlation or causal connection between pectoralis muscle tension and breathing\nor digestion problems.<\/li>
  3. The only fact established in the literature is\nthat in rare instances mares show increased sensitivity in their lower back\nduring the development of the follicles. However, there is no mention or evidence\nfor a tense pectoralis. One rare scenario could be considered: a mare in\nseason, with a lack of force in the hindquarters, a hypersensitivity of the\nback muscles may stress the pectoralis muscle.<\/li>
  4. Factors that might contribute to superficial\npectoral or subclavius muscle hypertonicity is lower neck pain and forelimb\nlameness. Girth pain related to cinch or girth tightness or wear often\naffects the deep pectoral muscle.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    How\nedema develop<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Edema originate from an imbalance between\nfluids leaking from the blood vessels into the tissue and fluids taken up by\nthe blood vessels and fluids removed via lymphatic drainage. While balanced in\na healthy body (person or animal), changes in blood proteins, changes in blood\npressure, blockage of the lymph drainage, increase in the venous pressure, or\ninflammation can disturb this balance and result in fluid accumulation in the\naffected area. Edema are typically seen in subcutaneous tissue as swelling.\nGentle pressure leaves visible indentations. The muscle is typically not target\nfor edema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What\nabout sweating<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Local sweating is a sign for enhanced\nlocal circulation caused by the release of histamines through the action of interleukins.\nThis histamine release is a natural reaction and should not be confused by\nhistamine release following rigorous massages engaging shear movements and\nresulting in local tissue damages. Therefore, if horses show local sweating\nduring massage treatment, it is a good sign because it reflects stimulation of\nthe sympathetic nervous system and sudomotor responses. There are some\nimportant sympathic ganglion at the base of the neck that might be affected\nwith deeper massage techniques. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The\ngirth pain syndrome<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Girth pain syndrome is the most\ncommon problem if a horse shows with a tense pectoralis muscle group. In this\ncase I recommend the rider to saddle the horse, set the girth in the lowest\nhole and drink a cup of coffee or just wait a while. In addition, the rider can\nbefore laying the saddle on the horse, perform gentle tapping the area to\ndecrease the sensitivity in this area (it could even be the sensitivity of the\nhorse\u2019s skin). If this approach fails, a closed examination of the trapezius\nmuscle after saddle mount is indicated. The muscle which is often hypertonic or\nshows sign of atrophy. It is advised to control the saddle position. However,\ndo not pad if an atrophy of the trapezius muscle has been established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u00a9 Copyright by Hands for Horses Sweden, Dr. Karen Wild. All rights reserved by Hands for Horses Sweden; sharing is welcome but please respect the copyright<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Quo vadis, Pectoralis? Social media offer a wide-variety of information. Many therapists use social media to provide information about their work and knowledge. While this is an opportunity for interaction and learning, it also has its challenges because the information is not peer-reviewed and often wrong or deceiving. Half-correct facts spread easy and fast with… L\u00e4s mer Quo vadis, Pectoralis?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artiklar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/handsforhorses.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/handsforhorses.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/handsforhorses.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handsforhorses.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handsforhorses.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/handsforhorses.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":343,"href":"https:\/\/handsforhorses.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions\/343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/handsforhorses.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handsforhorses.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handsforhorses.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}