How best to apply manuka honey for mud fever

Hels_Bells

Hels_Bells

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I posted last night as I was worried about my very old horse who currently has mud fever. I washed his legs last night and applied udder cream and this morning he definitely looked a bit better. So I did the same this morning.

While I was in the supermarket this morning I found some Manuka honey (10 rating) so thought I would give it ago as one of the people who replied to my post said how good it was.

Now, I'm just wondering how best to apply it. It's obv quite expensive so I don't want to waste it but he also has a fair few patches to work on.

The problem is worsened thanks to his old age incontinence which means that his legs are wet most of the time (ideal for mud fever conditions!).

So should I just apply it before bed tonight and leave it? Should I wash his legs first as there's like to be a fair bit of udder cream still on there? I have head other people talk about cling film - should I wrap him up in cling film then put his stable pads/legging things on top, or bandage??? or just leave to the open air? What do other Manuka users do??
 
I use it for treating wounds. I usually nuke it for a few seconds (start with 15 or 20) to get it runny so that I can spread it thinly and with a bit more control. (Nuking honey is also great if it's sat for a while and crystallised; will make it good as new.) I find I waste the least if I wrap a clean soft cloth (such as soft washcloth) around a finger and dip it in the honey. Once the honey is on, I generally leave it open to the air: the honey seems to form a protective barrier all on its own.

I tend to re-apply once a day, after washing wound with warm water to remove residue. No idea if that's the best plan for mud fever, though!

Caveat: I got there through trial and error; others may have far more effective solutions that I haven't thought of! :)
 
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ive never used it for mf before, would have thought that it would be better used once the scabs have come off rather than on top of the scabs - not sure how well it would soften them. However, it certainly wont do any harm so well worth a go. I would get the udder creme off first as this would stop the honey reaching the skin.
cling film is used with udder cream to keep the cream on the leg, stop shavings etc sticking to the cream and to keep it warm to soften the scabs ( stable bandages do this but the cling film stops the bandages getting covered!) Honey obviously will stick to everything and everything will stick to it so maybe wrapping would be a good idea!
 
I haven't seen Manuka honey in the squeezy bottle! Where did you find it? Alternatively, I suppose the obvious thing to do would be to transfer it to an empty squeezy bottle...
 
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