Inflammed tendon sheath - magnetic boots?? any experiences of them?

SecretSquirrell379

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Hi,

Bit of a long story so will keep it as short as possible!

I was hacking my girl out last Thursday, a bird flew out underneath her nose and she span to the left. We were on a track and her near fore went down the gulley inbetween the track and field, she then decided that was far too scarey and span back again! She seemed ok, sound and so off we trotted, had a very short canter and all seemed fine for 5 mins or so. She started backing off which I at first mistakingly took as nappyness as we were on our own. It soon became very clear that she was in pain and I jumped straight off (typically the furthest point from home!) Her breathing was rapid and she had flaring nostrils, like you get when you've had a good blast around a field. We walked (in hand) very gently home, phoning the vet on the way to meet us at our yard. She was hoping lame if we stopped and started again which I had to do a couple of time to loosen her girth, flash, check legs ect, and she found hills particularly difficult.

He looked over her and could'nt find anything specifically wrong apart from an old hip stiffness. He said you could see she was uncomfortable but didn't look really lame and nothing was obvious. He gave her a bute injection and said to do just walk for a few days and keep him informed. Friday we just walked out and she was stiff to start with and relectant to let me pull her legs forward after girth tightening but seemed ok, not perfect but ok. The same happened over the weekend.

I had a physio appt booked for me for today but changed it to do my girl instead as I was still worried about her. I'm glad I did as she found that she has a slightly inflammed tendon sheath in her near fore :( She had some magnetic therapy stuff done on it today and we are on just walk for the next 10 days and will review it inbetween as well.

I've just looked on Premier Equine and they do magnetic boots for just over £50, are they any good does anyone know? My girl is 18 so I think that they could be beneficial IF they do what they say they do!!

Sorry for the waffle, just thought it would help to give you all the full story!

Thanks again

Tricksy :D
 

Chestnut mare

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I have the bio flow magnetic boots and love them! Had them for about 6 years and no problems, my mare can be stiff in her hind legs and has an old tendon injury right fore Resulting in surgery several years ago and they make a big difference! I alternate between front/ back legs and diagonal pairs x
 

paulineh

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Love all magnetic equipment rugs, boots, wraps etc.


I have used them on different horses and always use them on my endurance horses.

As for an inflamed tendon sheath i have pm'ed you a number of holistic things I have used with great success.
 

gingerthing

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Bioflows are fantastic I use them on my boy, however inflamed tendon sheaths can be a sign that something is not quite right underneath. You said your vet couldnt find anything specifically wrong but for peace of mind perhaps get the vet out again for a 2nd opinion
 

noblesteed

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Yeah ditto get the vet out again. My old girl hurt her tendon sheath, lots of pain like urs was. Initial vet assessment drew a blank. After ice therapy, magnet boots on at night, 3 weeks box rest, walking out for a month she still wasn't right.
I had vet out again, took her in for a scan and it was much more serious than we thought so she ended up needing an op and a year off work. It wouldn't have been as bad if we had acted straight away. So I wouldn't risk it. Sorry
 

L&M

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Having been on the recieving end of a tendon injury, I would be advising cold therapy at this stage and not magnetic boots which may heat up the leg. I used the aeroborn cool gaiter and cold hosing until the immflamation had gone.
I would be wanting the vet out to scan before anything else though...
Good luck!
 

SecretSquirrell379

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Pauline thanks for the great pm, its been very helpfull.

I think that I should ring and speak to my vet tomorrow then. I rang and spoke to the nurse today and relayed what the physio had said. Maybe a scan to be on the safe side would be a good idea. A friend has kindly offered to lend me her boots but they won't be here for about a week so plenty of time to get the vet out.

I am hoping that as it is 'just' the sheath no lasting damage has been done :confused: fingers, toes, everything crossed

Thanks for all of your replies

Tricksy :D
 

CrazyMare

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Mine damaged a tendon sheath 2 years ago - vet initially couldn't find anything as there was no inflamation - so box rested her and bingo! Ten days later her hind leg was fat from hock to floor.

Straight to the vets, where they scanned her leg to find the tendon sheath 4x its usual size (compared to the good leg). Bute, and local anasthetic injection, home then back to the practice on Monday (this was Friday).

On the Monday, they medicated her leg with steroids and a lubricating substance - its not the tendon sheath itself that makes them lame, but the inflamed sheath rubbing against the tendons.

Rehab was box rest (She hurt herself in September, and went back in the field in December), and she was stable bandaged, with exercise bandages behind for the first few weeks of walking in hand (partly because they injected directly into the tendon sheath, so infection was a huge risk). We walked her in hand from 1 week after she was medicated, starting a 5mins per day, twice a day, increasing by 5 mins per week until we hit 40mins walking twice a day. Then I got back on, then she went back out in the field.

It was a long process, but that leg hasn't given her any trouble since.
 

SecretSquirrell379

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goodness me, this is all sounding a lot worse than I had allowed myself to believe :(

I need to have her scanned to see what actually is happening in there. I will definitely ring the vet in the morning and get it booked :(

Thanks again
 

CrazyMare

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To add, on the day the vet came out to mine, she didn't even trot. She walked otu of her stable hopping lame - literally.

She was 16 at the time.
 

SecretSquirrell379

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My girl is 18 and today you wouldn't even know anything was wrong. She has not been lame since Thursday, the day it happened, but then again I havn't let her do anything other than walk. After a few minutes of inital stiffness she is actually walking out pretty well, especially on the way home! She was really reluctant to let me stretch her legs after doing her girth up until yesterday but today she was fine.

I'm glad that your mares leg is now fine :D
 

L&M

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Please be cautious until you have a proper diagnosis - my lad was not particularily lame but had a tear and 2 holes in his tendon sheath and ended up on 6 mnths box rest! My former vet mis-diagnosed so the horse was turned out for nearly 2 weeks until I found another vet for a 2nd opinion, who scanned the tendon and found the extent of the damage.
I would certainly not be riding until you know what you are up against, and personally would have the horse on box rest with frequent cold hosing.....
 
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SecretSquirrell379

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I will be ringing my vet in the morning and getting a scan arranged. She has not been turned out as she is not the most sensible of horses and is more than happy in her stable in her jim jams with a manger full of hay!
 

eventrider23

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Other EXCELLENT tips for any kind of tendon prob is NAF Vit E Selenium and Lysine in their feed to help rebuild support structures and rubbing on Vetlin solution which is an astringent and totally ice cooling. My old youngster tore his DDFT completely and had 8 months box rest before rehab and i religiously put on the Vetlin daily and whenever he was worked as well as feeding the vit E, etc and I swear it got him through it as the vets wrote him off and said PTS and he ended up healing completely and totally.
 

Izzwizz

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My mare had a tear to her DDFT and towards the end of her box rest I bought the Premier Equine magnetic boots. Im sure they helped in the latter stages of her recovery as they increase the blood flow to help the healing. Horses blood supply in the lower leg is not great and Im sure the boots helped her. Shes doing very well now and hacking out up to 2hrs and doing a bit of schooling. She was diagnosed "properly" just over a year ago. Err on the side of caution with your horse until you know exactly whats going on.

The Premier Equine boots are really nice I hasten to add!!
 

SecretSquirrell379

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Thanks IzzWizz, I am taking precautions and I'm going to speak to my vet this morning and have a chat about scanning her. Just hope that it has been caught early enough and it will not take too long to heal
 

Clarew22

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Hope your mare is okay Tricksy :)

Found this really interesting as my horse has a slightly swollen tendon sheath, but when my vet looked at it he trotted up sound on all tests so my vet has left it to me whether I should scan or leave it for now due to the horses soundness he doesn't believe the tendon is damaged, but reading this it has helped me make my mind up to get a scan.

Looks like we will both be having a nervous time with a vet visit soon :eek:
 
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