Graze on hock not healing

[darksecret99]

Its only a small graze, but he knocks the scab off every day when he rolls in the field, so its not healing (and I hope to be doing some showing later this month and the scabby leg look isnt ideal!) ! Any suggestions?

A hock boot or bandage seems rather excessive cos its only about an inch and a half in diameter!!!

Anyone used horse plasters? Or that spray on seal and heal stuff? Will they be roll proof?

 

[eventing_chick]

Im afraid it will just take ages.
keep it clean i would try some aloe vera gel twice a day it does speed things up
Those kind of things can take months.
Also those hosre plasters are rubbish

 

[fizzer]

try wonder gel it is fab stuff

 

[herbert]

Have the same problem. 5 weeks later my mare is still not back in the show ring. Honey seems to be the best thing but beware flies and wasps!!

 

[BethH]

If you are absolutely sure the wound isn't infected and is clean then my miracle cure is to get Calendular oil (marigold) and in a small palmful of the oil add 1 or 2 drops of rosemary. The calendular is very good for soft tissue healing and the rosemary should trigger any undamaged hair folicles to start growing. It won't solve the problem in a couple of days but I find it works very well. Can I just stress that as this knits flesh together the wound absolutely must be clean as you don't want to seal in any infection.

You can buy calendular oil and rosemary esence from Neal's Yard remedies for about £6 a bottle and it last for ages.

 

[Vindaloo]

Really, really can't recommend enough that you are very careful with this. Had exactly the same with my lad, the hock swelled up massively and I had to have it drained.

Thankfully no lasting damage but there could be a cosmetic swelling.

I would DEFINITELY invest in hock boots. It will be far cheaper than the resulting vet bill. Course I could have been unlucky but thought i'd warn you in any case. x

 

[darksecret99]

Thanks for your advice

I think I'd better be safe than sorry and get some boots... there are no signs of infection... I am using aloe vera with tea tree antiseptic already and that has worked wonders on his other scrapes and grazes, so hopefully that will do the trick if I can protect the area... bit worried boots wont let it breath.... but he will only need them on for the field, so it should be ok...

Thinking of renaming him Mr Bump....

 

[eventing_chick]

I would stongly advise against hock boots.
you will end up with a bigger problem than you started with.
It will heal if you keep it clean.
hock boots will not keep a dressing in place,horses kick at them generally.
I had a horse that had skinned both hocks to the bone they were dressed for a limited time as even taped on with vet elastoplast slipped.
We used intrasite gel, as yours is a older wound aloe is a better bet.
Be gental with your cleaning so you do not knock off the granulation tissue flush not scrub,dab dont rub.
My boy healed with no scars,white hairs or proud flesh after 6 months,and i'm sure it was due to the nursing,and my vet agreed.

 

[MagicMelon]

I used horse plasters, cant remember where I got them but it came in a big roll which you cut to size. They did work very well actually especially for awkward areas like a graze to a hip etc. Im not sure if theyd work on a hock though. I guess they would if the horse kept dry! ie. not in a muddy field! Worth a try though, and they're totally breathable so you dont have to worry about that.

Otherwise I love Cut Heal. It seems to form a protective barrier and is brilliant at keeping proud flesh away - Ive used it on really nasty wounds which should have left scarring but everything heals very quickly and well with this stuff.

 

[Loubiepoo]

My horse had a graze on his hock last summer and it just wouldn't heal, everytime he rolled on the hard ground the scab came off. I tried everything to protect it, hock boots, bandaging it up etc and nothing worked because when the wound was covered it was taking twice as long to heal. It was like this for about 6 weeks.

The best thing I found was to keep it clean, diluted hibiscrub and thick wound cream twice a day and have LASER treatment on it. After about 3-4 treatments of the laser over 2weeks it had completely healed over and has never been a problem since.

I would def recommend looking into having some laser treatment on it, it will really speed up the healing of the wound and also stop any scarring.