Kissing Spines

[TheBigPony]

I just wanted to see how your horses were diagnosed with kissing spines.

On x-rays my horse has two close spines she is sore to palpitate and her sacroilliac is also painful. 2 week bute trial made no difference.

The vet is not suggesting nerve blocking the back to confirm that the spines are causing the issue. Just treating and see what happens after this.

I keep thinking we should be nerve blocking to confirm this is the issue and there isn't anything else but I haven't had to deal with this before so just wondering what other people's experience of this were.

 

[ycbm]

If the spot is sore to palpate then I wouldn't expect to nerve block. That soreness needs treating whether it's causing any other issues or not. You need the soreness removed from both areas and then a rehab plan to stop it coming back. It's very likely that the sore SI is causing the sore spot on the back, so you need to get to grips with why the SI is sore, and if the hocks and suspensories haven't been investigated then I would ask for that to be done, and possibly for x rays for negative angles in the hind feet.

I hope you get to the bottom of it all.
.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I would just treat it and agree with above check hind legs and hooves as that is what can cause si pain sometimes, so best to check it all then it can all be treated together then you have a better chance of the horse being comfortable.

 

[sbloom]

I would agree, but couch it differently. These are all symptoms, not primary/secondary, in so many ways, as the main cause will be compensatory movement patterns. Inefficient movement causes more wear and tear on joints, though there are other factors (and posture even looks at management of the horse, handling, where hay is fed from etc of course). Most rehab tends to be more generic fittening/strenthening rather than addressing the cause and changing the movement patterns, sadly, even from physios but certainly from vets who have enough to deal with without learning about the subtle art of postural rehab. Have a look at the FB group 7 secrets of self carriage for some freebie starters looking at posture etc, as well as a bit of help for the rider, the horse-saddle-rider approach where everything affects everything else.

What treatment are they proposing? I think in many/most cases I would want short term pain relief at most in order to start on this postural work so the horse learns new patterns while pain free.

You should also find a ton of info on here if you use the search function on KS, posture etc.

 

[TheBigPony]

Sorry for slow reply, it has been a busy work morning!

The suspensories have been scanned, there is a small area of thickening at the top of one but the vet said she didn't think it was enough to cause the issue. X- raying hocks hasn't been mentioned.

They are going to use the K4 laser first to see if that works and then physio.

I'm concerned that if we aren't 100% sure about what is causing the issues, then we will do all the treatment and rehab only to find it was caused by something else and we will be back to square one.

Thanks for your replies.

 

[sbloom]

I'm concerned that if we aren't 100% sure about what is causing the issues, then we will do all the treatment and rehab only to find it was caused by something else and we will be back to square one.

The cause, almost certainly, is how he's been moving. If it's not the only cause, it's a big part. Change how he moves, assume that otherwise he is a prime candidate for further issues. Sometimes this whole thing stems back to birth trauma, from current thinking, so you're highly likely to never know what caused the movement issues. Hop over to equitopiacenter.com for an alternative take on all this stuff, starting with the topline info but also posture, compensatory movement patterns etc. And yes, if all you do is strengthen/condition and not look specifically at straightness, thoracic sling etc then, in my opinion and experience, you can end up back at square one, though it may be further down the road.

 

[ihatework]

Sounds like you have a multi-factorial thing going on - spine, sacro, potentially hid suspensories.

This is a pretty typical pattern for KS that develop over time due to the horses way of going. Can be quite difficult to unpick.

Nerve blocking the spine is perfectly valid and probably good standard.

Personally, given you have images and pain on palpating, I’d just go straight in and inject - obviously in conjunction with a wider rehab plan and supporting treatments.

 

[TheBigPony]

Thanks for your thoughts and advice, it feels like a minefield!

I will take a look at Equitopia centre.