How many steroid injections would you give until you give up?

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splash30

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My horse had a tendon injury just below his hock in the SSFT that we are unsure of how it arose or what the trigger was/is. He had a major build up of scar tissue (it looks like a curb but definitely not!!) The thinking was it’s a vicious circle of tendon gets angry (for what ever reason possibly horsey rubbing bottom in stable and banging legs – now bandaged) tendon sheath gets aggravated by swollen tendon then rubs on surrounding tissue which in turn gets aggravated then forms scar tissue.

He was never lame, had 7/8 months off with ultrasound plus other topical treatments which did not do a lot, changed vets (another very long story) who suggested injecting steroids as he did not respond to any other treatments, this has been done with very good results, he has had 3 injections now the last in December but the swelling has now started coming back up. He has been brought back into work slowly with the vet’s advice.

My query is how many injections should I carry on with? The vet has advised that the time in between injections will get shorter as they will begin to stop working; he is a chunky boy so the risk of laminitis is greater the more he has, has anyone else had their horse in the same situation that is injected regularly or on an adhoc basis or do people think its too much? Any input appreciated good or bad
 
Only know that having multiple steroid injections in humans is not great, normally 3-4 per year is fine but the maximim. This is because it can cause soft tissue atrophy (wasting). I'm a human healthcare professional not a horsey one though, but can't see them being that different. Are you ice-ing leg when it is swollen? I'd speak to vet about other options as well. Best of luck, Ellie x p.s if I come across any more info regarding equine steroid injections will pass it on, as my colleague treats a vet.
 
thank you, the vet advised to put movalt on it twice daily as this would help the swelling/inflammation, any other info would be really appreciated
 
I'll speak to my other horsey friends for you too. Have you posted this on the veterinarian section of the forum too, might get some useful advice from there. x
 
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