kick injury- a progress diary?

[BroadfordQueen]

Hello all,
My lovely 4yo got kicked in the field last Monday.
This is what it looked like on the day of injury, after being cleaned up:

Scans showed that thank heavens, it was a superficial injury with no damage to any of the ligaments, bones or tendons, although her DDFT was exposed.
A week later (Monday just gone) I changed her bandage (had already been changed by vet last Thursday). Her wound now looks like this:

obviously it looks a lot worse due to the proud flesh, which the vet had encouraged using some gel (the name of which escapes me). However it appears clean, fresh and healthy. She is now just on 2 bute a day compared to the 4 she was on last week and appears very comfortable, and has been an excellent patient standing stock still to have it cleaned and bandaged.

I would like to use this thread to keep a progress diary for myself and for others who may find it interesting. If anyone has any ideas on speeding the healing process up, I would love to hear them! My vet is keen on keeping it bandaged throughout the duration of the healing process, washing it only with saline solution and not applying anything else. However if theres any supplements/non invasive methods that anyone knows about, I would be grateful to hear!
Sophie and Frankie x

 

[fishy]

It looks like it's healing well. I believe Manuka honey is good for healing, I've never had to use it (touch wood) but was recommended it by a nurse and an old horse dealer. I've also heard a lot about aloe Vera. Maybe some other members have more experience of them and can help x

 

[dianchi]

Manuka honey I vote!

Aloe is good but manuka tends to stick on better

 

[amage]

Covidien Anti Microbial Foam Dressings and Hypocare will get rid of that proud flesh and you should have barely a mark left. I have used them successfully on a few very Nasty similar wounds on my vets recommendation. Would agree with keeping it covered. I have very little mass on Manuka honey unless it's the proper medical grade stuff in the tubes!

 

[BroadfordQueen]

Thanks for the replies!
unfortunately we have taken a backward step- she was hopping lame yesterday for the first time since she did it 2 weeks ago. Luckily vet was coming out anyway to do a bandage change. We are hoping it is just an infection as she finished her course of antiBs, so she is back on them again and upped her bute again vet cut away the proud flesh and has given me some manuka honey (the medical stuff in a tube!) for her next bandage change on monday. Hoping her pain goes away again soon else it means xrays..such a shame as she was doing so well, vet said she could have gone out and grazed in hand but now obviously thats been put on hold again. Keeping fingers tightly crossed...

 

[Crazydancer]

Watching this thread with interest, as it's a similar story to my mare, who has an injury about 3 weeks ago. It was like an abscess burst on the inside of cannon bone, near-side hind. She doesn't do box rest (it was tried but after 24 hours we just had to turn her out again) and to start the wound was healing. Then the leg started to fill and she went very, very lame. It now looks like cellulitis, she has a big fat leg from fetlock to hock, and can barely weight-bare. She's on 2 bute a day, and we've changed her AB to something stronger. She's been x-rayed, and will be scanned next week.
Fingers crossed for your mare, and I will follow for updates.......

 

[Crazydancer]

Oh and I was told Manuka honey, and also about hypocare and foam dressing, both highly recommended.

 

[JustKickOn]

We had one go down out hacking and shredded one of her knees pretty much to the bone. It gushed with blood and we had two miles to walk her home.

Vet visited to clean after we had cold hosed and cleaned it for half an hour under their advice while they drove over. We used IntraSite gel (the vet gave it us but you can buy online too) and foam wound pads as they provided a little padding, followed by bandaging with a softban, tougher medical bandage and then vet wrap. We changed the bandage every two days, cleaning only with saline to begin, and then a soft salt water mix after a few weeks.

We expected there to be loads of proud, bobbly flesh, but we kept it bandaged right until it had all scabbed over, and the pressure of the bandage helped keep the wound nice and flat, you can hardly see where she did it now. She was on box rest for three weeks, and then she was turned out with a brushing/knee boot on to protect the bandage when out. Six weeks off working in total, and the vet gave the all clear to work, as she said the movement would help encourage circulation to the wound, and that it would also help stop the skin over the wound from healing too tightly, helping the sinews break up a little. The IntraSite also helped with this, as it helped to moisturise the skin where it needed to be moisturised, but it also absorbs excess moisture. It really is the most fantastic stuff.

Fingers crossed for a swift recovery for Frankie. It will be an interesting thread to follow, keep us updated and every wish for a positive way forward.

 

[BroadfordQueen]

Justkickon- that sounds like a very quick recovery, I would love the vet to say Frankie can be turned out soon! We used intrasite for the first week or two.
Following my last post saying she was hopping lame- she went back onto the norodine and 2 days later she is sound as a pound, thank heavens! Changed her bandage yesterday and it still doesn't look great, this was after having the proud flesh cut off at the end of last week:

However I am hoping it starts healing properly from now, next vet check/bandage change is on friday!

 

[JustKickOn]

We were astonished at how quickly she recovered. She's now. 7, but at the time was 6 and under rehab after nearly a year off due to musculoskeletal damage.

The wound picture is looking good. Even though the flesh is standing a little proud, you can see the new skin forming which is positive. Once it starts covering more, you won't believe how quick it will heal over. If the area continues to develop proud flesh, have a look at astringent powders.

It looks like good progress though, keeping fingers crossed!

 

[lelabell]

My girly hurt her leg in February and the wound showed the bone and there was a lot of arterial bleeding.
Proud flesh is something I have been struggling with so much with her! She was on box rest for 4months and was bandaged for 3.5. She has had 1 operation to remove excess flesh but it came back twice as quick.

Day of happening.

Shows progress from day 1 to week 7.

I have started using a product called Equaide and omg it's amazing!!!! It is nearly 5months since she hurt her leg, and this is finally working! The pic on the left is 3weeks ago with other proud flesh treatment and the pic on the right is after 3 days of using this product!


I'd recommend it

 

[BroadfordQueen]

Wow lelabell, that really is some radical improvement with the Equiade- would be interested to hear if anyone else has any reviews on this product?!

A long overdue update on Frankies leg.

This was her leg on 24th June (a week following the previous photos I posted on here):

As you can see it looks a lot worse here. Lumpy with excessive proud flesh and the wound has grown substantially.

4 days later it looked like this:

Then this happened on 7th July:

Yuck! Think it was just the infection from early on in her recovery as it hadn't caused her any problems, but I'm sure she felt relieved once it had all come out!

Cleaned up:

And then it finally started to look like it was getting better, not worse!
11th July:

Today!

As you can see, the wound is actually starting to close in (theres nearly an inch of pink skin on the left where its come in), the vet has cut some off (which was totally gross) and I can now actually get one menalin dressing on rather than having to use 2! She has a much smaller bandage on now with a lot less padding too. She is allowed out to graze in hand, which has been a mixture of total donkey pony to mental lunatic!
She has continued to be extremely relaxed about the whole box rest thing, and enjoys having her breakfast in bed
]

Vet is back out on Monday (he hasn't been out since it has been improving so much, I can't wait for him to see!). I am hoping I can turn her out soon...
For those interested, we have just been using manuka honey up until this stage, although I am seriously considering trying Equaide,,,

 

[mightymammoth]

looks like you've turned a corner now but poor you and poor horse, and I didn't think it looked that bad at first?

 

[Crazydancer]

I was using Equaide on my mare's cut, and thought it did really well, kept the wound dry but without forming proud flesh. I'd recommend it (and have kept the pot for future use!!)

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Oh that's a lot of puss! The latest photo looks so much better and what a star she's being.

 

[googol]

Omg! Hats off to any owners who have to deal with this sort of thing! I also didn't think it looked too bad to begin with and I know the proud flesh was almost a given but I think I would b in panic central! It looks like it's healing really well now. Fingers crossed the rest of the process is quick and pain free for both of you. Look up Botanica international ltd on fb- these products are brill for wounds although tbh I've only used them for much smaller injuries but there's great testimonials on there

 

[JustKickOn]

Crikey that pus picture looks gross. The proud flesh grew quickly though, but at least now it is looking lots better. Fingers crossed the vet gives her the all clear to go out. If she is moving more and getting more circulation to her leg, the wound should start healing over quickly. Fingers crossed!

 

[BroadfordQueen]

I think the picture of the initial wound is deceptive- I did think she would have to be pts when I first saw it, it was so deep I was sure it had done more damage than it had. Hence the proud skin- we had to try and encourage its growth asap so the exposed tendons/ligaments covered over. That was our first priority, and then a case of neaten it up afterwards.
It has been a stressful couple of months, especially as I was doing majority of bandage changes with minimal input from vet (trying to keep costs down due to no insurance!), quite scary when it keeps looking worse and not better!
She is very much fed up of box rest now, and is often broncing around her stable! She loves her inhand grazing sessions, and we have a perfect postage stamp turnout paddock to use, think she would be so much happier out so fingers crossed for good news tomorrow!

 

[BroadfordQueen]

A final and overdue update!
Following my last update in July, obviously a LOT has changed!
So I will start where I left off- this was her leg on 24th july so just over a week since the last update- huge improvement in such a short time, and this was the point when things really turned a corner-

Then 4 days later-

She was allowed out in her little paddock after this and I think that actually really helped things along. She was much happier and behaved like a saint. The improvement in a week from the last photo to this one was just incredible!
This was on 4th August, just before I went on holiday and Frankie went to my parents for a holiday. Vet came for a final check and was fully expecting to cut some more proud flesh off- he couldn't believe it!

Mum kept up the great work while I was away.
21st August-

31st August-

5th September-

15th September-

And thats the final pic I have. It is now fully healed with just a fairly unsightly scar! She is back with me after her holiday with my mum, and 3 days ago I was back on board!

So there we have it- what a journey! She came in with the injury on 2nd June, so the whole process has taken less than 4 months but has felt like a lifetime! Vet is super happy with it and said she can be brought back into work as normal and it shouldn't affect her in anyway whatsoever! Super happy and glad its all over!

 

[lelabell]

So glad your girl is all better

 

[JustKickOn]

I did wonder how you had been getting on. Super news!

Once the wounds flatten and the pink skin starts to grow, it's such a relief!