Mesotherapy - any experiences?

[TWMD]

Has anyone had any experiences of mesotherapy for strained muscles? Did it help? How many treatments did you have done? How long did treatments last for?

Just looking for anyone's experiences as it's a new treatment to me!

 

[Leo Walker]

I've never heard of it before and now I'm curious, so bumping this in case someone else has experience!

 

[Orchard14]

Interested too, heard it mentioned before for human use but not horses

 

[TWMD]

Interesting! I did do a search on this forum and there was nothing which I thought was strange as this place is usually full of info.

To give a bit of background- mine is the walking vet bill KS horse who was operated on 3 years ago and also has low grade navicular bursitis. He's been struggling with work since the end of last year and is very resistant and tense through his neck. Had the usual teeth/physio/saddle checks which didn't highlight anything. He had his navicular bursa's injected in Jan as he was looking a tiny bit footy and is now 100% sound. Vet wanted to revisit his back but there was no change after blocking him out in the saddle area and x rays shows no relapse of KS. X-rays of his neck also came back clean, so vet has concluded he has severely strained his neck muscles, hence the course of mesotherapy.

It was a row of 5 little needles, injected dozens of times into the 2nd layer of skin over his neck area. According to the vet it's a French treatment that's popular in Europe. The idea is that it acts as a muscle relaxant and also has a little anesthetic in it to act as pain relief and to allow the muscle to start to heal. We are going to do lots of hacking/long reining for the next 2 weeks and then build up the schooling gradually again, encouraging him to stretch his neck.

What I'm worried about is the cause of the neck strain. He stands quite camped under in front and obviously with his history of navicular this makes me think that that is the culprit. However, he also had a nasty SJ fall in November last year which could quite easily have done the damage.

Will see how he is over the next few weeks, fingers crossed it makes him more comfortable!

 

[SEL]

Well this is something new for me to look into for my walking vet bill! Does it have to be done by a vet?

I had a vet chiro out to do acupuncture 2 years ago but the mare's muscles were so tight she couldn't do it. Tried round 2 a bit later and managed 3 needles but she got a bit tense and when the needles were removed they looked like corkscrews

 

[TWMD]

Well this is something new for me to look into for my walking vet bill! Does it have to be done by a vet?

I had a vet chiro out to do acupuncture 2 years ago but the mare's muscles were so tight she couldn't do it. Tried round 2 a bit later and managed 3 needles but she got a bit tense and when the needles were removed they looked like corkscrews

I don't know if it has to be a vet, will ask my vet physio who's seeing him next month

Interestingly, my horse really objected to the needles even when doped, which the vet said showed just how sore he was. Apparently most horses hardly notice it and my boy isn't exactly needle shy.

 

[cobwithattitude]

My horse has had mesotherapy for arthritis in her back and she also has SI arthritis. It involves clipping the area and then a lots of fine needles go into the skin at the same time, leaving an interesting pattern. Horse was sedated and had local anaesthetic. When ridden her back was far more mobile (if that makes sense) but the effects only lasted a couple of weeks.

Vet told me that it was a cosmetic treatment in France for boosting the complexion and smoothing out fine lines!

 

[TWMD]

My horse has had mesotherapy for arthritis in her back and she also has SI arthritis. It involves clipping the area and then a lots of fine needles go into the skin at the same time, leaving an interesting pattern. Horse was sedated and had local anaesthetic. When ridden her back was far more mobile (if that makes sense) but the effects only lasted a couple of weeks.

Vet told me that it was a cosmetic treatment in France for boosting the complexion and smoothing out fine lines!

I think it depends on what's being injected, where it's used for cosmetic purposes i'm guessing they use different drugs? I can't imagine muscle relaxants in the face is a good look!

I've ridden a few times now and he does feel a LOT better, much more relaxed through his neck. I'm treating it as a clean slate, so now his neck is relaxed, I need to make sure it stays that way!

 

[cobwithattitude]

yes - apparently anti oxidants and vitamins are injected. Otherwise if injected with muscle relaxants, it really would be 'why the long face?' ..

 

[TWMD]

yes - apparently anti oxidants and vitamins are injected. Otherwise if injected with muscle relaxants, it really would be 'why the long face?' ..

haha!

 

[Regandal]

Botox is a muscle relaxant.

 

[showjump]

TWMD- How did your horse get on? Mine had this treatment on friday on her back. Interested to hear your experience? thank

 

[BBP]

TWMD- How did your horse get on? Mine had this treatment on friday on her back. Interested to hear your experience? thank

I’d be interested in how yours got on as my vet has recommended it for mine. So far I’ve just gone with frequent osteopathy, massage and red light treatment, plus in hand work. But if mesotherapy might help give him further comfort to then allow me to work on his posture more then I would do it.

 

[showjump]

I’d be interested in how yours got on as my vet has recommended it for mine. So far I’ve just gone with frequent osteopathy, massage and red light treatment, plus in hand work. But if mesotherapy might help give him further comfort to then allow me to work on his posture more then I would do it.

Mines always needed the osteopath on a very frequent schedule, and she loves his treatments. So this was obviously helping her. I didn't take her to the vets for a specific reason, just wanted a full MOT as her performance has been extremely hit and miss. So i was a little shocked they found lots of soft tissue/ligament damage in her back. Along with some iffy looking vertebra, so i'm hoping this has a positive affect on her.

 

[QueenT]

My horse had mesotherapy along the spine and lumbar area in connection with hind knee injury injections - idea was to alleviate potential soreness and stiffness higher up so she would still move freely while recovering, and not get other problems

 

[Lovethoroughbreds]

Just catching up on this thread as was looking into mesotherapy for a horse that gets tight from the spring grass in her lumbar

Jsut wanted to say to the people with the really tense horses there's a therapist now in the UK who has added PEMF from America to her work and she is amazing. It literally relaxes tight muscles in around 10 minutes! I was amazed. Well worth it.