Magnetic rugs, yay or nay after stifle surgery?

[LouiseG]

My horse is 6 weeks on from a bilateral stifle arthroscopy where they found "middle of the road" cartilage damage to his medial femoral condyle on both legs (finger nail sized the surgeon said). Op was straight forward, they shaved down the cartilage which thankfully wasn’y down to the bone, and there were no other findings of note, no post-surgical complications and he has around a 65% chance of a successful return to full work including jumping. He's now finished his IRAP treatment, has had 3 in hand walks per day for the past 4 weeks which he has been pretty much an angel on (thank you ACP’s!!) and had it not been for the relentless torrential rain he would have been back out in the field this week.

I was going to get him a Premier Equine magnetic rug as they are 20% off just now, he also has spavin in one hock from a trauma 2 years ago as a 4 year old and I am thinking of getting a hock boot too. Do magnets work and would they in any way help him with his recovery from the arthroscopy and the spavin in his hock?

Is there anything else I could be trying to give him the best chance of recovery?

Thanks in advance!

 

[dianchi]

I find that they help the blood flow which can help the joints in recovery.

Have you looked into turmeric as its has anti inflammatory properties and would probably aid recovery from that side of things

 

[jenni999]

My 16 year old hunter (of 8 seasons) is recovering from a significant hole in a check ligament. He was 6 weeks box rest and then 6 weeks progressive in hand. He had PRP treatment at 3 weeks post diagnosis.

I had a nightmare with the in hand, including escaping from me galloping down a tarmac drive and jumping a metal 5 bar gate into a field, then hooleying for 10 minutes before we caught him, plus several other "let me wave my front feet in your face Mum" and 5 metre circle lunging at gallop speed incidents.

Not that he deserved it, but I have used Veredus magnetic boots on both front legs building up to all night wear. He also has pure MSM and a loading dose of Vetroflex (collagen).

We are 15 weeks down the line and he had to be turned out at 11 weeks due to his dangerous behaviour. Considering all that, he is healing really well. The 12 week scan showed a great improvement. I can't say which thing has helped/worked but I would recommend a good quality magnetic rug. I did some magnet research and I think the cheaper ones aren't as effective. I am also keeping my boy on Vetroflex until he is fully clear in his ultrasound scans.

Every time I asked my vet about using magnets/vetroflex etc. all I got was a "it won't do any harm". But when I asked a different vet, they recommended magnets to get the blood flow going and keep the healing processes working. They can sometimes stall and so magnets will give a bit of a kick start, especially with inflammation.

Good luck.

 

[Izzwizz]

I used the Premier Equine one on my mare who had kissing spines and I do think it helped her. I used it before and after exercise.