Nasty cut on pastern, any reccommendations for lotions and potions???

charlimouse

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Nearly 2 weeks ago whilst being on box rest, Colin somehow managed to take a slice out of his pastern :confused:. The vet has seen it twice (when he first did it, and last week), and thankfully it hasn't go infected.The vet has just said keep it clean and use Dermagel, which I have been doing religiously. However it is just getting more open, and doesn't seem to be healing at all :(. I've nearly run out of dermagel, and seeing as it doesn't seem to be working was wondering if there was anything you guys would reccommend?

Here are a couple of pics from this evening. I apologise for the quality I was using my phone, and the flash was reflected off the dermagel I had just put on!

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Cheers you guys!
 
hi my horse had a cut like this but on the back of the pastern,took ages to heal because the foots always flexing .dont have any advice really except keep cold hosing it to keep it clean and try to restrict movement. i had my gelding tied up with a hay net for a few hours every day to try to get it to close-still took a while tho:rolleyes:
 
Aloe vera gel mixed with MSM cream - amazing stuff.
What ever you do - DON'T PURPLE SPRAY!!!!!

Oh and make sure you dilute hibiscrub and wash before applying cream.
My horse had a horrific kick injury to the hock - massive hole and took nearly a month to heal - but through rigorous, religious management you can't even see a scar unless you clip it and it's TINY!!!
 
whisper did the same thing... but much bigger and deeper on a hind leg many years ago.

we just gently cleaned with boiled and cooled salt water, then covered it in "hypercal" cream. (its by nelsons and is a herbal cream- a mix of callendula and hypericum.) and bandaged it to keep pressure on to reduce proud flesh.

she healed fine. hers was much more severe, and still has a tiny sliver of scab left- but the hair is slowly returning. that feltlock is slightly proud- but considering i could see her tendon it could have been much much worse....
 
If you use Hibiscrub, make sure it's really well rinsed off, it's pretty strong stuff and can strip out new skin cells. I've used Cut Heal on a couple of nasty, deep wounds and a hole where a sarcoid was removed. Great stuff, but it does get everywhere and is very sticky! Not used manuka honey, but I'm yet to hear anything bad about it.
 
Another vote for Manuka honey for wounds! My horse had horrendous facial wounds after surgery,including a hole through his forehead that my little finger would've fit through! Everything broke down & it was horrendous but the Manuka healed it & it looks amazing now. I used the sterile medical grade stuff on vets advice but many people just use the honey in jars.
 
The one sold by 'Equine America' think it's called 'Dermagel' it's in a red and white pump action plastic bottle. You mustn't wash it off, just keep reapplying it, they had a good helpline in Switzerland when I used it. Fantastic stuff!
 
Well i'll be the odd one out and say nothing on the wound!

Keep it clean with either dilute hibi or boiled & cooled salt water. Everything needs to be as sterile as possible so no dipping your cotton wool back in the hibi or salt water & clean hands

Thats it.

The only thing i will use (as recommended by my vet) is Vetalintex hydrogel.
Each tube is sterile and designed for one use so no contaminating the tube.
 
My horse is a 25 yr old mustang, who actually stepped on herself, causing a nasty pastern cut. the area became proud as it healed, and she kicked at another horse, tearing it open... again.. what should i do to heal her? My dad wont call the vet, her skin is still attached some.. should i wait for it to die and fall off? i will be sure to keep it clean and wrapped. Thank you for your much needed advice!!
 
Hi
My horse last winter had a horrible wound a couple of inches above his pastern. Vet attended and he was dosed up on antibiotics. I was meticulous with cleaning and dressing the wound. After 8 weeks and 3 more vet visits it really had not improved and I was beginning to think it never would. On the last visit a younger vet attended and suggested Manuka honey wound pads . She left me with 3 of them and told me to apply the Manuka impregnated dressing and leave it for a minimum of 3 days. I cannot tell you how excited I was on unwrapping that first dressing to see a pink healthy wound. Within 3 weeks and having changed to just Manuka honey out of a jar and melolin pads I knew we had cracked it. I am only sorry that I did not take photos of it. The wound was the size of a fist and had proud flesh too. Beautifully healed, a small slightly thickened area but no white hair.
It goes against your innate wish to keep the wound very very clean by smeering on honey but I cannot rate it highly enough.
Hope this helps.
 
I'd be tempted to get a second opinion, as that looks like it is constantly moving and opening up. Hard to say without seeing if the tissue is healthy granulation tissue or not which I can't see on the photos. Might well need bandaging with a dressing. Lotions and Potions aren't going to help it heal I'm afraid.
 
Either Manuka honey or Intrasite Gel, applied with a bit of padding and bandaged up; leave completely alone for 3 days then re-do. Amazing how both of those heal a treat as it goes against the grain to leave bandages on for so long.
 
Aloe vera gel mixed with MSM cream - amazing stuff.
What ever you do - DON'T PURPLE SPRAY!!!!!

Just curious - why no purple spray? In the 'olden days' everyone sprayed the bl**dy stuff on everything. Has there been a change in ideas?
 
I think it's just become unfashionable even though the proper terramycin spray can be very useful especially on parts that can't be bandaged; ie: unhandled cob staked it's chest, huge flap hanging down between front legs, TS was the only thing that could get near it until flap of skin died off which was then cut off completely. Not perfect I know but healed very well, not even a scar there now and all done without traumatizing the poor cob when it was wary enough of humans as it was.
I think there's always room for some in the cupboard, never know when it'll come in handy; put it this way, I wouldn't like to be without any at all.
 
I think it's just become unfashionable even though the proper terramycin spray can be very useful especially on parts that can't be bandaged; ie: unhandled cob staked it's chest, huge flap hanging down between front legs, TS was the only thing that could get near it until flap of skin died off which was then cut off completely. Not perfect I know but healed very well, not even a scar there now and all done without traumatizing the poor cob when it was wary enough of humans as it was.
I think there's always room for some in the cupboard, never know when it'll come in handy; put it this way, I wouldn't like to be without any at all.

Good to know I am not the only one harbouring a bottle. Phew.
 
Here is how I treated a mare that got stuck in some wire in the pasture and got slices up and down her cannon bone. Clean with a mild surgical scrub (I like Nolvasan) diluted with warm water. Then pat dry with clean dry gauze or a freshly laundered towel. Then use an antibiotic ointment like Neosporin or if you can get your vet to order for you try some Trypzyme ointment. Cover the wound with a telfa pad with adhesive ends. Then wrap securely with gauze then cotton padding and then a stable wrap. The pressure and the ointment help keep the wound from developing proud flesh (more common nearer the hoof). Make sure to keep the dressing as clean and dry as possible.

With my mare I treated the wound every day until I could see it granulating in and then went to an every other day routine. She healed without any scaring in a fairly short time, about 2 weeks. Once things look good, and the wound seems to be getting smaller and has good tissue underneath and is scabbed on the top you can just keep it clean and leave the wrap off.
 
To/ In response to timssister
Thank you!
Actually, we started putting an antibiotic cream on her leg (I call it goop) and wrapping it. The cut itsself was tender, so she kicked when I touched it, but she still works up a lope on her own accord, so I know she didn't injure it as bad as she has before. We have gone through 2 bandages on it now, and I am happy to say that whenever we take a bandage off we see healthy pink skin growing back. This has never happened before, usually the healing process for her takes a few months, so over the span of a week to see this progress is almost scary. Well, my father and I ran out to the barn and took off the bandage to see that, and he decided it was good enough to leave un-bandaged. I am afraid that she will kick it open again or get it dirty, so I was completely opposed to the idea, but I am also 17 so I have no real say. I decided to just cake on goop to at least keep a barrier between the wound and dirt. Either way, I am still very concerned about it. If it does actually get worse and stops healing with the goop we are already using, I will be sure to try honey. Whether my dad believes it or not, nobody (him included) is an expert in this mystery, so all advice is welcomed and taken to use for the sake of trial and (hopefully not) error. THANK YOU
-Sterling'sHuman
 
This is good news! Just be advised, animals can get something called a lick granuloma from licking a sore too much. The best thing to do is keep it wrapped up until you are sure she won't be tempted to lick. I've seen dogs lick the spot where they had an i.v. until it becomes a big nasty sore. I know honey has natural antibiotic properties, but I'd worry this would encourage licking!

Hope she's fine again soon.
 
Hi I can't see your injury on my phone but I do have a thread on here of my horses leg injury and I've used Manuka Honey also and its been fab. The lower limbs of horses are the hardest to heal because of the constant movement they do tho so don't lose hope. X
 
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