ARC equine

ihatework

ihatework

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7 September 2004
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How are people getting on with this?
For the life of me I cannot get the blooming thing to work, I'm pretty sure I'm not getting the electrodes to connect properly.
Plus it is flipping fiddly!!!

Anyone else think similar ? Any amazing tips?
 
It is fiddly, but you do get the hang of it. I've noticed that recently the horse I've been using it on must have got hairier legs (not surprisingly given it's October) and it is more of a struggle to get the electrodes to connect, but I just persevere.

Keep the legs as clean as you can, wash every day to get rid of any old gel or general muck.

I put the leg pads on as loosely as I can to get it to connect, then bandage in place firmly over more padding, to keep it connected (hopefully).

I made myself a little pocket for the unit, out of an old bandage, folded and sewed it, so that it is padded and I can put the unit into it, and attach it right away, then grab the actual bandage and big pad to go over the whole lot. Never had a problem getting it to stay on this way.

Don't know if any of that helps?
 
I kept getting a red light to say not connecting. I replaced the gel supplied with ultra sound gel, which stays in place until you fit the the pads.I found the other stuff just ran straight off. I also found that sometimes you need to push in firmly the connecter to the pads.This was causing more problems than the gel. Yes, I agree that its fiddley, and I'm not sure how much difference it made to my horse's recovery. What I can say, is that it sorted out my duff knee within two days, and I was really limping. Before anybody asks, it WASN'T a placebo effect!
 
Thanks all,
I have emailed my phone number and await a call to discuss.
I have ultra sound gel for my tens machine so will try that (as agree the stuff supplied just runs straight off), although I did plaster her leg with it and still couldn't get a connection.
I'm reluctant to tighten the electrodes too much as would like to leave it on overnight and feel uncomfortable with the elasticated system it uses.
 
Mine is still going strong - dont find it fiddly at all really. But I do find that Boots own brand lubrication gel works better than anything else I've tried. It seems to stay wetter for longer & its cheap.

I also find that with the new style leg pads, once that gel stuff that is on the pads as worn off, they get a better connection quicker & its not reacting with my horses legs either so far - thankfully! We had a hard time with the old pads where his legs scabbed up pretty badly & he has alot of white hairs now :( But I cant really complain cause he is sound!! I'm using it a week on/week off at the mo.

Let us know how you are getting on - keep going with it, it does work great!
 
Ian will help :) Try clipping the horse's legs so you get better contact maybe. I've recently got a new unit, and I'm finding that unless the plug is really home in the connector, I get a red light. With the newer style pads you don't need to tighten the strap very much at all, they stick a lot easier. I'm not finding the gel runny, in fact if it's not kept somewhere ambient I can't get the stuff to squirt out of the bottle as it's too thick!
 
I'm still waiting for Ian's call, can't find his number on the website, so fingers crossed he calls me as I'd like to use the unit!

He did swap my unit that didn't work a while back, and also sent new gel in a different dispenser. Old stuff wouldn't pump out!! Typical, new stuff is too runny. Might cut open old bottle and see if I can transfer the contents.

Unfortunately I cannot clip this horses leg without IV sedation, so that option is out.

What are the new leg pads like? I obviously have the old ones, and when fitting to a lower limb, the upper electrode strap sits just below the knee, with the lower electrode strap sitting weirdly round/under the fetlock (I think the lower strap is the cause of not connecting maybe?).

What this system really needs is an easy to apply system, becuase as it cureently stands it is impractical, especially if you are on livery like myself and reliant on the good will of grooms to do this. The electrodes need to be built into a supportive stable boot, with a pouch/pocket on the outside to house the unit. This is expensive kit for the faff it is.
 
Ihw I used it with the strap just below the knee and the other above the fetlock with a fold in the middle never had any problems. Helped my horse a bit but she had a degenerative condition. But on my back it has been miraculous completely pain free and I have tried everything now use it once a week for maintenance.
 
Ian is very helpful, he really does know his stuff and for me certainly, has always been at the end of the phone when I have a question or query.

I have used my ARC, I don't know if it helped, or if it was the many other things that I changed/introduced etc but I am certain it didn't do her any harm.
I will be starting the cycle again soon and the ARC will be the only thing I am using so I am hoping to see more of a difference.
 
I have stopped using mine :( I have had two horses react really badly - one virtually blistered after using the machine for about 4 weeks, the other was fine initially then the leg blew up in a huge reaction - I suspect there was interference between some post XC soothing gel we had used earlier and the ARCequine but it was very scary and we nearly missed an important event as a result.

I started having problems with the contacts on one pad too: I couldn't seem to get a connection howver hard I tried. Eventually by feeling aroundit and comparing it with the other pad supplied, it became clear that the connection inside the pad had somehow come apart.

I really wanted to use the machine but all these problems have un-nerved me: it isn't that I don't believe they do anything, I suspect they are a very powerful piece of kit - I am more concerned that it is still a very new technology and if used incorrectly could do a lot more harm than good, and the instructions etc don't give me enough confidence that I am not liable to use it incorrectly by mistake!
 
I have had some challenges with application, but all have been overcome and resolved with Ian's help. I have found the following has worked:

(1) (as with anything that goes round the leg) it is very important that the leg strap is not put on too tight - either with the old style leg strap where the electrode is beneath a carbon rubber coating or the new style leg strap that has the Arcpads. The strap must be as loose as it can be just to get a connection. The leg needs to be clean - previous gel washed off (I use a small dandy type brush wetted) and not too much hair on it, if necessary clip or trim the hair.

(2) if using the Arcpads they must be replaced as soon as the gel covering starts to degrade and expose the circular top of the electrode underneath that gel covering. They are cheaper if bought in larger quantities. I can get each pad to last about a week or so, you can move the gel around a bit with your finger to ensure that circular flat top of the electrode is always covered, but once this becomes difficult to do anymore - replace the pad. Do not use the pads without the gel covering on.

(3) Put a small rectangular layer of gamgee the same size as the deliver unit underneath it to cushion the leg against the delivery unit, or use the provided pocket attached to the leg strap to hold the delivery unit.

(4) Put a sufficiently large layer of gamgee between the leg strap and the stable bandage.

(5) Put the stable bandage over the top of the large layer of gamgee, bandaged correctly in the usual way.

(6) If possible move the delivery unit around from leg to leg (I used the two back legs rather than the more delicate front legs that my particular horses have) so it doesn't go on the same leg each night.

The current formulation leg gel is rather runny but it still works for me.

It's a great system and I have great success with it for a variety of horse and people related injuries and chronic conditions, I hope you can get it working for you :)
 
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