We all love to start a new year with some good news, and I’m pleased to share mine with you! I’m now able to offer INDIBA® treatment to my clients and it’s a fantastic addition to my physiotherapy services. I know lots of you will have heard about the amazing results it can deliver, but I also know that there are plenty of people who have never heard of it and don’t know what it is. So, in this blog I’m going to share what INDIBA® is, how it works and how it’s used to treat horses. So, let’s get started!

What is INDIBA® treatment?

INDIBA® is an animal health company which manufactures radiofrequency devices to treat a range of injuries and issues. Their devices use a specific radio frequency – 448 kHz – which has two main effects on the body. The first is that it increases the heat of body tissues, a process called diathermy, and the second is that it is proven to stimulate and accelerate tissue repair and regeneration mechanisms. Exactly how it regenerates tissue is still being studied, but the impact of the treatment is widely proven. The broad scope of INDIBA® treatments means that it can be used to treat a huge range of disorders and is an excellent tool for any equine physio to have access to. I’ve been trained on exactly how to use the INDIBA® machine to maximise effective healing and relieve pain along the way, and I’m seriously impressed with the results it gets.

How is the INDIBA® machine used?

INDIBA® treatment can begin just hours after an injury or issue is identified, with some human high-performance athletes having a treatment as close to five or six hours after they’ve hurt themselves! With horses there’s veterinary referral to consider first, so generally once I have that I can begin treatment straight away.

 The INDIBA® machine has handheld electrodes which are applied, with a thin layer of gel, directly to the horse as close as possible to the area of the injury. A return plate is applied to the horse’s sternum, so the current travels through the horse from the electrode to that! The radio waves travel to a depth of up to 6 cm, so the treatment can penetrate further than some other therapeutic tools we already use. The length of treatment varies depending on the injury or issue but can be from 15 minutes to 40 minutes.

What issues and injuries are treated with the INDIBA® machine?

I know this sounds as though I’m being rather vague, but virtually every issue or injury can benefit from INDIBA® treatment! That’s because the heating effect of the radio waves helps to ease discomfort and pain, which can in turn relax their muscles and therefore ease some trapped nerves or muscle strains. The regenerative effect aids healing, especially useful in areas that are harder to reach, manipulate or stretch. All kinds of soft tissue – muscle, tendon, ligaments etc – seem to benefit from INDIBA® treatment, and the impact is obvious from the first treatment.

I’ve seen muscle tears and strains, contusions, tendon holes and tears, ligament strains and so many other issues respond well to INDIBA® treatments. Horses seem to find the sessions very soothing, and you can feel the area is warm for several hours after the session. I carry the INDIBA® machine with me to all appointments now, so feel free to ask me any questions about it when I’m next visiting you.