Check ligament injury and bandage sores...

[Ladybird]

Hi all,

Just after other peoples experiences/words of wisdom really, I'm a bit of a worrier where this boy's concerned and need a bit of reassurance I think!

My 8 year old section D had a fall in the field 2 weeks ago today, came in with slight swelling and heat to the check ligament/tendon area and a few scrapes (literally just scrapes). I paddock rested (he doesn't stable well!), cold hosed and bandaged.
Initially wasn't very worried as not badly lame on it, I'd say 1-2/10 in trot so hoped it was a tweak and a few days rest would sort it, wasn't happy with progress on the Thursday so called vet for the next day.
She advised to carry on as I was, keep him as rested as possible for a week, and bute to help take down any inflammation so we could scan.

By Tuesday however I had to take the bandages off as his skin just wasn't coping, he now has a large amount of raw skin & the hair has literally come off in clumps in my hand with the skin attached.

He was scanned on Friday & she didn't find any bad damage, the check ligament was enlarged in comparison to good leg, hence the swelling however no black patches (relief!), and the scabbing/soreness from the bandages caused a few issues (scanner couldn't see through the scabs and we weren't allowed to scan the sore bits!).

Vet has advised to carry on with the cold hosing, and walk in-hand for 10 mins twice daily, she's coming back to scan at the beginning of August, 2 1/2 weeks after initial scan, hopefully giving the sore patches a chance to heal for a full scan and comparison of what we have scanned so far.

I'm slightly worried about the check ligament, however have known previous horses with worse check injuries that have returned to full work? Any first hand experiences of this would be great.
This is my horse of a lifetime and I'm just worried that something isn't going to be right!

Secondly I'm worried about the damage his bandages have caused (will try and ad pics tomorrow), the front of his cannon bone on lame leg has a large patch of very pink skin after thickened, hardened skin and hair came off last night, but didn't bleed at all (hardened patch runs right from top of cannon bone at the front right to the bottom, the part that has come off is approx 2 inches long and nearly an inch wide), and the back of both has an approx 3" patch in the middle of the length.
Is this likely to scar?

Sorry it's turned out to be so long, and massive thanks to anyone that got through it all, and even bigger thanks to those that can offer any advise/past experiences!

 

[applecart14]

Hi all,

Just after other peoples experiences/words of wisdom really, I'm a bit of a worrier where this boy's concerned and need a bit of reassurance I think!

My 8 year old section D had a fall in the field 2 weeks ago today, came in with slight swelling and heat to the check ligament/tendon area and a few scrapes (literally just scrapes). I paddock rested (he doesn't stable well!), cold hosed and bandaged.
Initially wasn't very worried as not badly lame on it, I'd say 1-2/10 in trot so hoped it was a tweak and a few days rest would sort it, wasn't happy with progress on the Thursday so called vet for the next day.
She advised to carry on as I was, keep him as rested as possible for a week, and bute to help take down any inflammation so we could scan.

By Tuesday however I had to take the bandages off as his skin just wasn't coping, he now has a large amount of raw skin & the hair has literally come off in clumps in my hand with the skin attached.

He was scanned on Friday & she didn't find any bad damage, the check ligament was enlarged in comparison to good leg, hence the swelling however no black patches (relief!), and the scabbing/soreness from the bandages caused a few issues (scanner couldn't see through the scabs and we weren't allowed to scan the sore bits!).

Vet has advised to carry on with the cold hosing.

I'm worried about the damage his bandages have caused (will try and ad pics tomorrow), the front of his cannon bone on lame leg has a large patch of very pink skin after thickened, hardened skin and hair came off last night, but didn't bleed at all (hardened patch runs right from top of cannon bone at the front right to the bottom, the part that has come off is approx 2 inches long and nearly an inch wide), and the back of both has an approx 3" patch in the middle of the length.

QUOTE]

Hi Ladybird.

If the vets asked you to cold hose its probably an idea to ice cup the injury as well if you can. Ice cupping is really quite effective as its a source of more direct cold whereas cold hosing doesn't have a consistent temperature although the actual flow of water directed onto the injury site if the flow is slow is beneficial.

For those that have never heard of ice cups all you need to do is to fill some polystyrene cups with water and freeze them. Then when you need them take one out of the freezer and apply it to the site of the injury making sure you move the ice to prevent ice burns. If you move it in a circular motion its even more effective. As the ice begins to melt (its amazing how quickly this can happen if the leg is warm/hot due to inflammation) then you start peeling the polystyrene down the cup as you use the ice.

As for the bandaging it sounds like you may have put them on a little tight. Did you use gamgee underneath? Did you have a consistent even tension on the bandage as you wrapped it round the leg? If you haven't done either of these then this could have caused the problems you describe.

 

[Ladybird]

As for the bandaging it sounds like you may have put them on a little tight. Did you use gamgee underneath? Did you have a consistent even tension on the bandage as you wrapped it round the leg? If you haven't done either of these then this could have caused the problems you describe.

Thanks for the ice-cupping idea, cold-hosing isn't proving to be too effective as it makes me desperately need a wee as soon as we've started meaning I have to cut it short and run... It would be a well needed extension!

Bandaging wise I'm fairly confident in my ability and believe I did have them at a consistent tension, however I may have done them slightly tighter than I would under normal circumstances hoping for a slight compression/support effect.
Vet said most likely to have caused rubbing because he's such an active horse and doesn't like to be still, although I did feel she was trying to save my feelings a little there!

 

[Rouletterose]

Thanks for the ice-cupping idea, cold-hosing isn't proving to be too effective as it makes me desperately need a wee as soon as we've started meaning I have to cut it short and run... It would be a well needed extension!

Bandaging wise I'm fairly confident in my ability and believe I did have them at a consistent tension, however I may have done them slightly tighter than I would under normal circumstances hoping for a slight compression/support effect.
Vet said most likely to have caused rubbing because he's such an active horse and doesn't like to be still, although I did feel she was trying to save my feelings a little there!

What bandages did you use? and did you put gamgee underneath? also if your horse was turned out 24hrs and the bandages got soaking wet, that would cause a major problem as they need changing as soon as they are wet.

 

[Ladybird]

What bandages did you use? and did you put gamgee underneath? also if your horse was turned out 24hrs and the bandages got soaking wet, that would cause a major problem as they need changing as soon as they are wet.

They were fleece bandages with gamgee underneath, we had no rain here last week that I can think of.

 

[guisbrogal]

My horse has just had a bandage on for 7 weeks! (Well of course the vet changed it numerous times during that period) and has a lousy sore on the front of her leg.

We have now had to remove bandage from her initial wound to get to the sore. I am using Manuka honey on it. Will let you know how it goes but from past experience I can highly recommend it.