PICTURES Wither wound.. will it ever get better??

jemima*askin said:
If you want to try grocery manuka on a wound I'd suggest you start off on a patient covered by the NHS. So much less personally expensive if you have to have any exotic new infections tested.
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So true! Did you know that only 2 out of 8 jars tested actually had the NPA/UMF (antimicrobial activity) as labelled (source - a study published by the Grocer magazine). A Pollock and Reagan paper published by Glasgow vet school demonstrated poorer performance of jar manuka than medical grade, and revealed that some shop bought honey actually contained more dormant species of bacteria (spores) than they actually had isolates to test against. Scary stuff! Fine on toast though...
 
Thanks everyone and thanks Be Positive for clarifying the injection situation. I was giving IV antibiotics but my mare has had enough and started playing up so I am now giving them both IM.

It has been so helpful to have everyone look at the pics I am posting... whether you give advice or criticism or thoughts on progress it is all taken on board. I am running any new ideas past my vet. She says I can put manuka on the old wound but not into the drainage incisions. As Be Positive said, apart from my vet I don't have the advice of anyone else here.. my OH doesn't really like looking at the wounds too much if you get my drift, so it is really my vet and you lot that are helping me with it all! ;)

Today unfortunately the whole scab on the old wound sloughed off as I was cleaning the area. I couldn't believe it. I thought the yellow spot in the middle was pus and gently cleaned with a swab and the whole thing came off. The only good thing is that the tissue underneath looks good.. apart from this prominent yellow bit which is tissue not pus. Any ideas why it would be like that?

This afternoon the old wound is scabbing over again and there is no secretion oozing from it.. surely a positive step! I also think the amount of pus is slowly reducing. Nothing coming out of the top drainage site at the minute, still oozing from the lower one.

Still waiting to hear back from vet today.. its a bank holiday (pancake tuesday.. any excuse for a fiesta in Spain!)

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Looks loads better again. I'm no expert and happy to be corrected but I think the yellow bit is granulation / scar tissue so it's good that it's come off. You're getting there, I'm sure.
 
You have my respect! I would be on the floor after the first day having to deal with all that pus! Not good with pus - I tend to faint!!!

It's looking a lot better than it did - well done you!
 
Pics indicate further improvement :).

I bet if you put the pics from the last few days all together in chronological order we would see a huge difference. Well done with the nursing care. I'm a wimp when it comes to needles so have to take my hat off to you.
 
Suechoccy said:
I'm another one who thinks the wound itself looks a lot healthier and looks like it is healing. The continued gunkpus would concern me and I'd check with the vet, (have you emailed them these pix?) but it may just be there's lots in there to come out.
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I honestly wouldn't worry too much about gunk coming out, mine leaked until about four days before it finally sealed, yucky, but it was sort of self flushing! I had ribbon packed in which went like jelly when it got moist, but the drier the better as far as the doctor thought, so that was stopped and I just syringed exactly as you're doing.

Time is the thing that will help: keep a photo good record of the wounds, you'll be amazed in a couple of weeks!
 
MDB it is looking fantastic!

I've been following your story quietly and now feel brave enough to comment.

Im a medic here in the uk and the wounds look great! They are definitely improving.
The yellow area is granulation tissue and is the deepest part of the wound. Normally a wound can be sealed edge to edge and stitched and will heal with minimal scar. As this type of wound is open it has to heal by secondary intention. The deepest part forms granulation tissue which is made up of platelets and blood cells. This then grows upwards and out eventually filling the hole. So, unfortunately it is still very early days but each set of pictures you've taken shows significant improvement.

Just keep doing what you are doing and try not to disturb the granulation tissue too much. I'd personally advise against the use of manuka honey shop bought or medical! If it were mine though I would be using hydrogen peroxide in a syringe to wash out the holes. This is brilliant stuff to get rid of aerobic and anaerobic bugs. When it contacts bacteria it oxidises and fizzes so you can see of there is any residual bacteria there and it actively removes it. It doesn't sting or hurt and I've used it to affectivly flush out an abscess on my leg! You can get it at chemists here so I'm sure you can too.

Anyway, great job so far
 
P4NN said:
MDB it is looking fantastic!


I've been following your story quietly and now feel brave enough to comment.

Im a medic here in the uk and the wounds look great! They are definitely improving.
The yellow area is granulation tissue and is the deepest part of the wound. Normally a wound can be sealed edge to edge and stitched and will heal with minimal scar. As this type of wound is open it has to heal by secondary intention. The deepest part forms granulation tissue which is made up of platelets and blood cells. This then grows upwards and out eventually filling the hole. So, unfortunately it is still very early days but each set of pictures you've taken shows significant improvement.

Just keep doing what you are doing and try not to disturb the granulation tissue too much. I'd personally advise against the use of manuka honey shop bought or medical! If it were mine though I would be using hydrogen peroxide in a syringe to wash out the holes. This is brilliant stuff to get rid of aerobic and anaerobic bugs. When it contacts bacteria it oxidises and fizzes so you can see of there is any residual bacteria there and it actively removes it. It doesn't sting or hurt and I've used it to affectivly flush out an abscess on my leg! You can get it at chemists here so I'm sure you can too.

Anyway, great job so far
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Thank you P4NN.. that is very reassuring :)

Can you tell me what % hydrogen peroxide solution you recommend to syringe the wound out?
 
MDB I used 9% 30vol but it comes in 3% and 6% so just depends on what you can get. All are mild and will do just the same job. Obviously the stronger the solution the more rapid the results.
 
MDB said:
Thank you everybody for all your comments. In response to your query horsemadmum, i am cleaning the drainage incisions with swabs to keep them open and then using a 50ml syringe to flush out the two drainage sites several times. I am removing all the crusty bits from the rubber band and making sure the band is free and loose and not becoming adhered to tissue underneath.

The vet taught me how to do the IV injections when we were inundated with snow because the roads became inaccessable for several days. The snow has now cleared up but the vet is happy for me to continue to give the injections and do wound care. It is also saving a daily call out fee which would be mounting costs quite a rate. As long as I am doing a good enough job then I am ok continuing with it.

I am now giving injections into the croup to give the neck a rest. Haven't spoken to the vet yet today to discuss swabs. But will do later.

Thanks again everybody for all the comments!
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OP I did not realise you were in Spain, I do hope it heals soon and wish you all the best.
 
I think we have turned a corner. Woke up this morning to the first pic. Don't know if you can see but the pus is turning clearer and less of it. The original wound is now fully closed and I haven't touched it today. Second pic is after cleaning and the yellow stuff in the drainage incisions is antibiotic ointment. Vet says maybe I can remove the rubber band in a few days.. fingers crossed.

I will keep you all updated... but just want to say thank you all so much for your words of support and advice and opinions. It has really helped. What a fab forum!!

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It looks as if you are nearly there now, the infection has almost gone, the next stage should be plain sailing after all you have gone through, the surgical wound will close up fairly easily once the elastic is taken off, the main one has healed remarkably well.
 
Looks loads better :)
MDB said:
I think we have turned a corner. Woke up this morning to the first pic. Don't know if you can see but the pus is turning clearer and less of it. The original wound is now fully closed and I haven't touched it today. Second pic is after cleaning and the yellow stuff in the drainage incisions is antibiotic ointment. Vet says maybe I can remove the rubber band in a few days.. fingers crossed.

I will keep you all updated... but just want to say thank you all so much for your words of support and advice and opinions. It has really helped. What a fab forum!!

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That looks so much better - I think you've won with this one - well done all that hard work was worth it.

Thanks for keeping us all updated with the pics, it's when other people have experiences like this and share them that we can all learn.
 
Would try to treat area with some Vertericyn type wound care. the active ingredient is HOCL (hypochlourous acid). Made from Electrolized water. Very natural and most effective. A similar product which makes the same type water is called a Sanilizer. It makes the EO water the same and has three times the amount of HOCL. Studies have shown HOCL is very effective in healing wounds, animals and humans. Sanilizer is advertised as a safe product used around the home for cleaning and sanitizing but the true ingredient is the HOCL. Check it out or do some research on HOCL/
 
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