Hair/skin has come off bandaged leg... what to do?

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SillySausage

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One of our horses cut its leg fairly badly in the field about 3 weeks ago, but not enough to need stitches.

She was seen by the vet and it was scrubbed up and then dressed in: a dressing with the affected area coated in dermagel, a cotton wool bandage, a gamgee and then vet wrap over the top. To begin with it was changed every other day, and then every three days, with decreasing pressure of how tight the dressing was put on.

Vet saw it again yesterday and said it looks great and to leave the dressing off from now on.

Today the patch has come up very raw, hot and swollen (not on the cut so not an infection, more like a serious friction burn). On the other side of her leg a patch of hair and the top layer of skin has come off too, and again is red raw and sore. I'm assuming this is from the pressure of the bandage because I had to put it on tight to keep the skin together.

Tonight I have run some water over it to get some heat out of it, and have then covered it in dermagel. I've also given her half a bute to help the inflammation.

Can anybody recommend what to put on it? Sudocream, aloe vera gel, something like that? Or just leave it to heal on its own?

Will give the vet a ring Monday morning if I'm still worried and it hasn't sorted out by then, but any tips greatly received.
 
I always use aloe vera wound gel and hypo care for minor infected cuts but just give your vet a call if it's not down tomorrow and chat on the phone, see what they say they might want to com take a look.

It really isn't easy to say without seeing it.
 
I personally would give the vet a call before Monday, as soon as you can and just have a chat with the off duty vet as that is quite a severe result from bandaging. I would be cautious about putting anything on it. Was the dermagel put all over the leg or just at the site of the cut?

I would be really quite concerned about this because if the cut was bad enough to warrant such tight bandaging, I would have thought it would require stitches. Too tight bandaging could have easily caused a loss of blood supply to the outer layers of skin and that could be why it has come off, it could have been a pressure point in the bandage and this is the result. Swelling is not good and could be the natural form of protection against all sorts of issues, not forgetting what too tight bandages can do to tendons and blood circulation.

Sorry OP...it sounds like you have followed all advice, but obviously something has gone wrong, either a reaction to something or too tight bandaging and I would not be waiting until Monday. If there is an infection, I would want it treated asap and if it's anything else, I would want to know what it was so that I didn't do anything to make it worse unwittingly.

I hope she recovers quickly, do let us know how you get on xx
 
When Bee had mega pressure sores, they were cold hosed every day and kept as cool as possible, and mum washed them in Hypocare and kept a thin layer of wound cream stuff on it and she was turned out in limited turn out. Hers were horrific, bad enough she had tendon scans done, and she would have had permanent scarring from them.

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/foru...s-Knees-a-cautionary-tale-with-a-happy-ending!
This is the whole saga if that's any help.
 
The cut was about 3cm long, and the dressing put on was obviously much larger than the area. The soft bit in the dressing (i.e. inside the sticky edges) was coated in as much dermagel as could be put on each time. I'm not sure that I'm explaining that very well..

When the dressing was taken off yesterday the surrounding areas where the sticky bit had been applied to the clipped bit of skin was a bit scaly and sore. Vet advised I would be fine to cover the entire area in dermagel.

She hasn't got ulcers like on your link Lolo, but they are pink to the eye like how your skin would look if you got a friction burn. I think I have made it sound worse than it is, she has no open wound as such. Thank you for your link, I will read it all through :)

I will call my vet first thing in the morning and see what he says.
 
She may have reacted to the adhesive in the 'sticky' edging. Lots of humans do as well. Nothing much you can do, except remove the cause which you've done. Vet may advise something.
 
Do not put sudocream on it, as long as it does not smell infected just put a hydrocolloid gel or dressing on, you need to protect what healthy cells there are, and cover which a light dressing to hold the gel in place. The vet should take a wound swab. If the skin is dead it will have to slough off and the tissue skin cells regrow from the bottom.
Be careful about cleaning wounds with any sort of anti septic wash, as it can kill the delicate regrowing cells. Go to the pharmacy and buy some normal saline in large ampules and a large syringe and trickle the saline over the wound if you really think it needs cleaning. The pressure from a hosepipe is not a good idea as it can damage the new cells. Some stockinet bandage can also be useful as a covering, if you need to use tape make sure the ends each side do not over lap forming a tourniquet. The blood supply to the legs in horses and people isn't that good so leg wounds are always a b***** to heal.
 
Regandal said:
She may have reacted to the adhesive in the 'sticky' edging. Lots of humans do as well. Nothing much you can do, except remove the cause which you've done. Vet may advise something.
Click to expand...

This. My friends mare had a nasty reaction to the adhesive from bandaging.. Worth getting advice from the vet & being cautious about what you put on it.
 
Hi Guys... 10 days on and all is good!!

The next morning the heat and the swelling had totally gone and the redness was back to normal naked skin pinkness. Vet advised most likely a reaction to the sticky stuff as a few of you mentioned, so thank you.

Lolo - your advice has been invaluable, the Hypocare and Wound Cream have done an amazing job.

We even have hair growth back already!!
 
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