Nuchal ligament/soft tissue injury in neck

faerie666

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Has anyone dealt with an acute nuchal ligament or muscle injury in the neck? How long was the recovery and what was involved in the rehab?
My little ex-racer Handy came in from the field on Thursday afternoon and seemed fine at first. I started grooming him in his stable, but when I touched his neck with the brush he suddenly exploded, rearing, bucking and head shaking frantically.
I thought he had been stung by a wasp.
I checked his neck and found some very slight swelling on both sides and a small lump on his crest, around 10in back from his poll.
Called the vet, as he just wouldn't settle and was becoming more distressed. Vet also thought it sounded like a reaction to a bite or sting and told me to give 2 bute and he would come out to see him.
When the vet arrived an hour later he was a bit more settled, but still head shaking a bit.
After examining him, the vet felt it was a soft tissue injury rather than a bite. He gave him a steroid injection to help with inflammation and told me to give bute am+pm until Monday and if no improvement to get him back out.
There's been no change in the swelling at all since Thursday, and whilst not as distressed, Handy's still not happy about having the area touched.
My plan is to get the vet back in the week to scan/x-ray his neck to see what I'm dealing with, but I wondered if anyone has been through something similar?
I'm devastated, I rode the little dude for 3 years at work, and he never once saw the vet for anything other than his jabs, and now it looks like he's managed a fairly major injury less than 4 months after I've taken him home.?
 
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