PENS - succes stories?

[GTorque]

Appreciate this has been covered before but heartbreaking new problem for me.

My boy who I’ve had less than a year is struggling with head shaking. He doesn’t do it it in the indoor school, maybe the odd twitch, but bad in the outdoor or hacking. He tries his best to concentrate and work through it but after ridden work, is really struggling, desperately rubbing and wanting to bury his nose, even slicing his face open twice to need stitches he can be that bad.

Have tried nose nets, hayfever tablets and supplements to no avail. He’s had everything checked, teeth, back etc.

The vet has been out this week and scoped him, endoscopy and lameness work up. There were a couple of issues which showed up after flexion test but vet said that they are secondary to his head and current quality of life.

Vet wants to send him for CT scans and PENS but have discovered my insurance won’t cover it so need either some reassurance that there is some success from the treatment as I’m completely at a loss what to do for him?

 

[webble]

I looked into it but the success rate was very low and even those that had a good put come relapsed within a fairly short period

 

[nutjob]

At the time I looked into it for my horse the success rate was about 25%, there were 50% unchanged and 25% worse. This was when it first came out so it may have improved since then. I didn't go ahead with it as mine was managed to a large extent with a nose net and fly hood which covered his nose when turned out.

My horse was also much better indoors, and in the summer a riding face mask helped in bright sunlight, so did ear covers. It's very complex and there are so many factors to consider but you might find there are management changes that can help. It's worth making a diary of when your horse is better or worse, what activities you are doing and what the weather is like. My horse was better ridden in the early morning and when kept complete off grass so diet may have an impact. The nose net initially annoyed him and it needed a flash strap to keep it in place until he got used to it but it did make a massive difference. Good luck, it's a really difficult and demoralising condition.

 

[Melody Grey]

Disclaimer: never had to deal with a head shaker.

it sounds like you’ve got all bases covered, but wondering if you’ve tried different bridles/ riding in a headcollar etc. I have heard of horses with extreme sensitivity in their faces that have been irritated by conventional bridles and know people that have overcome this with ergonomic bridles, micklems etc.
Sorry if that’s absolutely no help, just wondered?

 

[spotty_pony]

When I looked into it, the success rate was very low as it had just been brought out. My insurance did cover it and he had a CT scan and the nerve blocks but was negative on the nerve blocks so PENS wasn’t necessary anyway but at 1k per round of treatment and something that would be needed every 3 months or so it wasn’t something I would have considered - aside from the fact it’s quite an unpleasant precedure. My horse was a unique case though - head shook only in the stable but a nosenet on a leather headcollar helped most of the time.

 

[Regandal]

May not be relevant as my horse has photosensitivity, he benefits greatly from a ride on fly mask when it’s sunny. Stops the reaction completely.