AJ , was a ten month ole Labrador Retriever who started limping at the
age of four months. The limping was first thought to be due to trauma
from being an overexuberant Labrador. But, it was later determined that
he had Osteochondritens Dessicans in the the right hock. He developed 
a bone chip and surgery was done to remove the bone chip. Unfortunately,
he contined to limp and the hock remained swollen. The limping was
present when he first awoke for the day. It would improve during the
mid-day, and gradually worsen by evening. In order to control the pain,
his owners were forced to keep him on non-steroidal anti inflammatory
medications. On physical exam, the patient was mildly lame. The hock
had a lot of heat as compared to the normal limb and it was swollen.
The patient was diagnosed as having Qi/Blood Stagnation with Heat
and Jing Deficiency. Treatment involved dispelling the Heat and
dispersing the Qi/Blood Stagnation. The history of the patient's
pain improving with movement in the morning, but then worsening
             during the day, indicated tThe day after the first session, the owners reported that the all of the swelling 
             had disappeared as well as the heat. The heat did return after three days, but at a much lower level.
             The swelling remained gone. On the second visit, the owner reported that the lameness had improved.
             As the treatments progressed AJ's owners were able to decrease his anti-inflammatory medications
             to three times a week and to increase his activity levels. He was no longer confined and was able 
             to attend doggie day care twice a week. His limping was no longer obvious. He started to regain
             muscle tone and muscle size in the affected leg. We no longer treat AJ as he and his owners moved
             to California in August 2009.