Leg wound 3 weeks on - opinions?

[Gingernags]

This was Byters leg after kicking through a wire fence, took skin off, lots of blood, totally unstitchable as there was no skin left. Green circle is a flap of skin still hanging but beyond repair.

It wasn't healing well as the heat and flies were problems. Lots said get the vet and anti-b's - vet said no, didn't need them carry on!

So, on advice from here bought nappies instead of animalintex - waaaaaay cheaper thanks! And as I couldn't get the honey dressings, I improvised. So imagine the above but mucky and bleeding and smelly with proud flesh.

3 days of poulticing cleaned it up, then this week she has been having honey covered dressings (Nappy with a good dollop of pure honey on) left on for 48 hours a time...

And...

I'm really impressed! The proud flesh has gone, the "stump" of dead skin has gone, and we have pink healthy skin. What a difference 96 hours and a pot of honey makes!

 

[Super_Kat]

I wish I'd discovered this forum before Allie stuck her leg through a gate and skinned it to the bone in 3 places, I would have saved a massive amount of money on dressings and my baby probably wouldn't have been left with with scarring and big lumps

Thats looking so much better though! Did you really just stck a blob of honey (from a pot that you can buy from the shops?) on a nappy and stick it on the leg???

 

[k9h]

Brillian well done you. Thats looking so much better & healthy which is what you want. Lets hope the hair grows back the right colour too now. Think it should looking how it is healing. Again well done.

 

[Gingernags]

I was told of these brillant dressings you could get, that were honey gauze ones, but had no luck trying to order them..And a few people have said about nappies - so I toddled off to Asda, bought a pack of smart price nappies - 20 for £1.48!!! And all I do is cut them in half and cut the plasticy bits off the edges - and its just a wound dressing!

Vet said if the flies were a real problem - then by all means keep it covered but dry as wet dressing make proud flesh worse.

Again in Asda - they had a squeezy bottle of honey reduced to 50p - just pure honey - so we have been pouring a big dollop on the dry dressing, sticky bandaging it in place, and leaving 48 hours.

Best £1.98 I've ever spent!!!! Thanks for the ideas folks!

I think as long as its clean and dry, then the honey is fine as a "wound cream" apparently its super disinfectant. Sister was telling me bugs just can't live in it, you can keep it ages, and if someone with any catchable thing - say flu - eat honey off a spoon and you then eat some off the same spoon, you'd not catch ANYTHING. Totally sterilises things!

Well I'm a believer now!

 

[CJ1]

wow, im stocking up on honey and nappies, my boy is a bit of a one getting into a pickle!

 

[AmyMay]

Wow GM - you are some nurse. That looks fantastic.

I am deeply impressed.

 

[Fairynuff]

The old cures are not to be sneezed at. I use honey but add some crushed garlic.It works wonders, keeps flies away and costs next to nothing.Garlic and honey are the tops! Her leg looks lovely and clean, well done. Mairi.

 

[Dougie]

nappies work a treat..also as poultices

 

[guisbrogal]

Me too Mairi! Ellie has it in her tea every night and has done for the past 2yrs. She loves it and I swear by it for a good coat and general health

 

[LouiseL88]

Hi folks - I didn't realise that you could use honey in this way, would never have thought of it. My horse ripped his back leg open 10 weeks ago and is having weekly vet visits - costing me a fortune (£1160 so far!!) so the honey and the nappy advice will come in handy. His cut was through the tendon which wasn't a problem as apparently they don't really use the one at the front and it granulated and was producing proud flesh which has been cut back several times now - I think we are on the road to recovery now but will definitely stock up on nappies!!!!

 

[serena2005]

dont know about anyone else but i want to see a picture of her leg with a nappy on it!

i cant believe how much better it looks in 3 days!

 

[Enfys]

That leg is looking so much better now, I did the honey thing when Ali cut his leg and was very impressed with the result. Is Byter sound again now?
I was watching one of those Animal Cops programmes on Animal Planet the other day and there was a horse with a nasty infected wound and they mixed sugar and betadine into a paste, packed it and wrapped it and apparently that worked well.

 

[selina25]

wow that reminds me of the rule NEVER USE BARBED WIRE NEAR HORSES gosh glad to hear its getting better though

 

[Patches]

Wow, that looks so much better!

I keep a jar of Manuka Honey in my first aid box....Manuka is THE best type you can get for healing properties.

I've got some old nappies too (unused of course lol) that Isobel used to have before being potty trained. Might keep a few of them in my First Aid box now too...along with the duck tape for applying a poultice to the foot!

As for how it was done, I know someone's replied making a statement about wire fencing....well a couple of weeks ago Talis sliced his right hip open...not on wire...but on a hedge! Nasty deep cut that couldn't be stitched because of how he did it. Whether you have wire, post and rail, electric tape or natural hedges....horse always seem to have a knack of hurting themselves don't they. I must admit that some areas of my fields have barbed wire fencing. I know it's not ideal, but my fields are cow paddocks as well and nothing but wire stops cows from pushing through it?

 

[Gingernags]

It isn't barbed wire though, its the plain square wire that is used a lot for fencing. We don't have barbed wire anywhere near them.

 

[Gingernags]

Funny thing is she's stayed sound all through it though it was a horrible wound! She's had her shoes taken off whilst its like this, it got a bit worse on Sunday as we had torrential rain which soaked through the bandage and water makes proud flesh worse, and we kept them in as it was really horrendous weather, so her legs all filled overnight and she was a bit doddery when I turned them out.

Saying that, we changed fields last night, they've gone in the winter one for a couple of days - and she was galloping around like a 2 year old. In fact keeping pace with the 2 year old!

 

[Hornby]

Wow that is good! Will have to remember that if I get the same kind of problem, good work!