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- NIET - 
NON INVASIVE EQUINE THERAPY

Niet combines modern western science with 1000's of years of Chinese clinical observations.

NIET’s core therapy philosophy involves the combination of traditional Chinese medicine relating to meridian lines and acupressure points, with the ground-breaking Western scientific research of Extracorporeal Sound-Wave Therapy (ESWT). This forward thinking philosophy of combining Eastern and Western medicine based on western scientific advancement combined with thousands of years of clinical Chinese observation provides an exciting new scientific medical approach and provides the backbone for Stafford’s Doctoral thesis in Non Invasive Equine Therapy.

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Our core philosophy is in two parts: preventative and treatment.

Preventative; involves acupressure treatment along meridian lines with and without the soundwave treatment process to stimulate the flow of blood, nutrients and chi to all vital organs of the body.

Treatments; involve acupressure treatment combined with involve non-invasive soundwave therapy (and often includes other non invasive methods such as Laser treatment) to help a variety of disorders from skin ailments to tendon and bone problems. 

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FROM HUMANS TO HORSES

Soundwave Therapy  (EWST) is a non-invasive treatment that can speed the healing of many types of orthopedic and soft tissue injuries and conditions. It was first used as a medical therapy called Lithotripsy used to break up kidneys stones in humans in the1980’s

Since then, It has been used in Europe and the US ( It has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use on humans) in human medicine to treat tennis elbow, plantar fascitis (heel pain), rotator cuff injuries, calcifying tendonitis of the shoulder, femoral head necrosis (hip degeneration), non-union fractures, wounds, burns, osteomyelitis (infection of the bone) with draining tracts, myofascial pain,  periodontal disease, infected wounds, and to speed fracture healing  of non-union fractures.

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Since the late 1990’s, it has been used extensively in veterinary medicine for the treatment of a wide range of soft tissue (transition from bone/periosteum to tendon /fascia), musculature and bone tissue(stimulation of bone formation or removal of calcifications) and the therapy of chronic/acute  pain… It is used in treatments  from kissing spine to high suspensory desmitis.

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Such is the proof that it alleviates pain, that it is not permitted as a treatment prior FEI or racing events.

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So what is ESWT

So what is it?
ESWT is the application of acoustic waves that penetrate living tissue.
Basically the shock waves are highly intensive acoustic waves of very short duration…  They are characterized by an abrupt pressure increase, an exponential pressure drop and a prolonged flat negative pressure period…

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So what does ESWT physically do?

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These high-energy waves pass relatively unimpeded through the fluid-filled cavities and cells of soft tissue like skin, fat and muscle. But when they encounter the resistance of denser structures such as ligament or bone, the waves slow to a near halt. This "crash" releases large amounts of energy, which is absorbed by the surrounding tissue. This, in turn, unleashes several physical forces within the tissue:

First, the tissue struck by the leading edge of a shock wave experiences compression, but the bone or tendon cannot yield the way the soft tissue does.

In the wake of each high-energy wave is a trough, where the pressure in the tissue actually drops below its starting point; this sudden drop in pressure causes cavitation, with the formation of gas or vacuum bubbles.  Those bubbles collapse almost immediately when the surrounding fluid then moves back into the area it had just been pushed out of, thus restoring the original pressure level. All of this motion causes a series of currents in the fluids within the tissues that stimulate healing.

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How many treatments are needed?

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Depending on the type and severity of the disorder, one to three shock wave treatment sessions are per- formed at intervals of seven to 21 days.

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ESWT works on a variety of physiological processes

Bone

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For almost 30 years, researchers have been documenting the ability of ESWT to stimulate osteogenesis: the formation and development of new bone tissue.

A number of university srudies have shown significant positive responses to ESWT among horses with navicular syndrome.

Ligaments

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The shock waves stimulate the fibroblasts - the cells that generate new connective tissue. Many scientific studies have been pubnlished with some as much as 90% success rate in showing improvement and over 80% success rate of complete recovery 

Nerves.

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ESWT has a significant analgesic (pain killing) effect (which is why it is banned prior to FEI and racing events). 

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Capillaries.

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Studies have shown that the application of ESWT to the Achilles tendons of dogs resulted in the development of new blood vessels (neovascularization), which in turn increased circulation in the area.

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Inflamation

ESWT It provides a potent anti-inflammatory affect and can help relieve the inflammation of the interspinous ligament and stimulate healing of the surrounding tissues. As such it has proven to be a very useful and non-invasive tool in the treatment of kissing spines.

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Meridian lines and acupressure/puncture points

Fascinating research and results have been achieved with various physiological processes utilising the Chinese theories of Meridian lines and acupressure/puncture points - see scientific papers section.

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THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING

US food and drug approved

European researchers have reported that some 85 percent of people who have received ESWT for chronic conditions like heel spurs and tennis elbow experienced pain relief and improved function. As a result, U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved ESWT treatments.

Paris World Congress

At a paper presented at the 1999 world Congress in Paris,
Treated by ESWT were 124 horses with fore- or hindlimb high suspensory desmitis (HSD) and 85 horses with other forms of desmitis. ESWT was performed on 1 to 3 treatments in 1 to 3 week intevals. 104 (83%) out of 124 horses with HSD were sound for more than 6 months or showed an improvement of their lameness.

An Italian study on tendon calcification

A 2003 Italian study showed ESWT significantly reduced the calcification of tendons  with 68 percent of the cases completely irradicating the calcium buildup and seeing significant reductions in a further 17% of cases.


A group of German researchers used ESWT to treat 30 horses who had chronic suspensory ligament inflammation that had failed to respond to conventional treatments for at least three months. Six months after the last treatment, 24 were sound, and 18 of those horses were back in full work; only three of the original 30 showed no improvement. 

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ABOUT US

About our practitioners


Stafford Robinson is a Qualified New Zealand Racehorse Trainer, having had his trainers license for over 30 years.

He has a number of university degrees including a Masters degree in Equine Agricultural science from Massey University in New Zealand.

He is currently doing his Doctorate (PhD) in Non Invasive Equine Therapies, with special reference to Extracorporeal  Sound-Wave Therapy (ESWT) and it’s use in meridian lines and Acupressure points in the horse.

Stafford is also studying Equine Chinese medicine as it relates to Equine bodywork, massage and acupressure points with the Tallgrass Institute in Colorado, USA.

Stafford and Bathoni own Berghof Sporthorses and have the honour of having bred the first ever African bred Warmblood to have been licensed with a European Breed Society.

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Bone treatment

Tendons and ligaments

Acupressure well being treatments

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CONTACT US

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Address:

Kyalami area, Johannesburg.

Email:

Phone:

+27721726941

Fax:

123-456-7890

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