Proud flesh from an injury

[brightmount]

I few weeks ago I posted about my horse who had sustained a leg injury to the inside of the hind cannon bone. She was lame on it, and it was swollen but the cut itself didn't look too bad. The vet saw it two days later but I had got some noridine from the surgery in the meantime which she was on for 5 days.

Well the general swelling and lameness went after a few days, but it remained swollen locally and it was apparent the wound was quite badly infected and deeper than we thought. It took a while to draw out the infection, we eventually poulticed for about 4 days which was successful, but the edges of the wound opened up quite a lot over the course of the 2 weeks we were dealing with it, and the tissue that has formed looks like an extra chestnut but pink!

We had an x-ray btw which was clear so she has been going out in the field with a bandage over gamgee to protect the scar tissue which is quite delicate, and at night she has no bandage but a smear of Flamazine ointment to keep it clean.

Given that it's 3 weeks since the injury, I wondered if anyone can give me an indication of how long the proud flesh is likely to look so bad, and is it likely to disappear altogether? Can I be doing anything to help? Are there any creams or gels that are effective, given that the wound is no longer open?

Thank you

 

[the watcher]

not out of the medecine box..but both honey and aloe vera gel are said to be good for proud flesh, although it might be a bit late in the treatment for the honey

 

[samp]

Proud flesh unfortunately is not that easy to remove, the best advise is to speak to your vet. They can excise it, however it may return so the horse may need bandaging to support the limb

 

[brightmount]

I was wondering whether to switch to Aloe Vera at this stage, as I have some of that.

 

[Sparklet]

I would agree with this - my horse had an injury on her pastern which grew proud flesh. The vet (at the time - it was several years ago) gave me a pot of copper sulphate and I treated her myself.

It never went down completely but skin did eventually grow over the top but the lump left behind caused awful problems because she kept catching it.

Vet is the best person.

 

[Tierra]

Granulation tissue does tend to leave quite significant scarring in my experience and its really worth trying to get rid of it. There is also a very, very minor chance of the remaining scar tissue (should you, for example choose to NOT deal with the granulation tissue and allow it to heal of its own accord), mutating into a sarcoid. This IS a very minor risk but it's still there.

My mare suffered a lot with excess granulation tissue after degloving her hind leg from hock to coronet band a few years ago. Due to the extent of the damage (she removed most of the flesh down to the tendons and bone - both of which were completly visible to the eye - it wasnt possible to stitch anything back together and the only way it could heal was to allow the formation of tissue. At the time, we were advised not to have the granulation tissue removed and what she's left with is a fairly horrific scar on the front of her hind leg. The problem is that the scar itself can be prone to problems - particularly in the summer months where flies can bother it and also the sun can cause problems with it. Equally, in the winter she's had issues with the skin round it when it gets excessively wet.

Granulation tissue basically leaves hairless scars that tend to be at risk of secondary infections and you really do have to keep an eye on them (aside from this - they're very unsightly).

Due to this, I'd personally do everything you can to get rid of the granulation tissue. As someone else mentioned, you can have it excised by the vet. It sounds quite horrific but it actually isnt. They remove the excess tisuse to bring it inline with the horse's skin - hopefully then allowing the skin to close up more normally and leaving a clean scar. It isn't as horrific as it sounds since granulation tissue doesnt have nerves in it (so im told) - so while it will bleed a lot, it wont be as painful as it looks. This would certainly be my prefered route for dealing with it and I'd speak with your vet regarding this.

Once it's removed, steroid creams can help to stop more tissue forming again (they prevent the formulation of excess granulation tissue without inhibiting any healing).

Aside from this - theres been a great deal of success in using spa therapy for the treatment of scar tissue. We have a centre near us that I visited a while ago and was shown some very impressive photographs of different wounds during their spa treatment. There was a case of a horse with a very similar degloving to me mare's and the scar left was clean and quite minimal which was a stark contrast to my horse's which is probably 2 inchs square of scar tissue and even to this day forms a very thick crusty scab in the centre which has to be removed every so often or else it keeps growing outwards (again has the texture much like a horses chestnut). Sadly, this can get knocked and drop off which leaves the scar tissue open to infection again.

Ive honestly had a continuing nightmare dealing with my mare's scar so Id recommend anyone to try and get granulation tissue removed as fast as possible prior to an injury. 8 years on it is still causing her issues.

 

[filly190]

Smith and Nephew do scar management pads and gells, these are used by humans and animals. Our vets use them. I dont think it is too late to treat this proud flesh.

The scar management stuff that Smith and Nephew do are wonderful, the company are the the worlds leaders in this industry and their products treat burn patients etc.

I have used their stuff on some terrible wounds and have been left with little/no scaring at all.

Vets Direct sell some of the stuff, but it is much cheaper to go direct. I would recommend the gell pads that you stick on, it works to reduce scar tissue and wont cost you very much money at all.

 

[fairhill]

Another vote for aloe vera gel here.

My old mare broke her knee and had a nasty scar from it. We started using aloe gel (on the vet's advice), the pink scar disappeared, proud flesh flattened, and the scar went a much healthier black colour. We even got some hair growth back.

You can buy the gel from holland and barrett - or get yourself a plant (much cheaper).

 

[claire1976]

MSM cream helped with my mares proud flesh on inside of her hind leg from a pressure sore. The vet cut most of it away and I applied MSM cream several times a day as this encourages the growth of healthy tissue and skin. The wound healed quickly and she has been left with only a tiny scar as a result.
I have heard very good reports on the use of Manuka Honey as well.

 

[brightmount]

Thanks for some really useful advice. I'll start using Aloe Vera Gel but I'll get the vet to have another look. I have already claimed on my insurance for this injury, so to get it excised wouldn't cost me any more.

She's a tough girl though, she was only lame a couple of days, but she doesn't want a scar on her leg at only 5 years old.

 

[threeponies]

Honey is supposed to be good but I think its to stop proud flesh forming. My YO's mare had a wound that granulated slightly and the vet gave her fuciderm (sp) which was brilliant, not much of a mark on leg now.

 

[Twiglet]

Comfrey cream is doing well on a TB at my yard who sustained a horrific hock injury earlier this year - a very deep cut running the entire inside of the hock joint. Although it is still scarred, thanks to the expertise and care of a super vet and application of comfrey cream, the proud flesh has been kept to a minimum and the scarring is reducing by the day.

 

[Bess]

My horse had a nasty deep cut into and above his coronet band earlier this year. The cut healed with proud flesh even though I had used Manuka honey on gauzes, the proud flesh was bigger than my thumb. I got Equaide from www.equinefirstaid.co.uk, and it has completely gone apart from a little tag of coronet band. The pot was expensive but I've still got half the pot left and it worked.

 

[brightmount]

So many choices!!! It's encouraging to know I might be able to reduce the proud flesh without having to have it excised. threeponies I actually have some fuciderm from when one of my horses had a tail rub that got nasty, so now I can't decide between that and aloe vera as my choice for later on, since I have both of those already.

I'll look into all the other suggestions, thanks everyone!

 

[brightmount]

Bess I've checked your link - that looks good! My horse's injury is similar to the picture but not as red and sticky any more. And they say "Guaranteed, or your money back". I think I'll get the trial size pot and give it a go

 

[Scarlett]

my vet gave me fuciderm for my horses proud flesh. it worked to an extent, as did aloe vera and msm cream, however the best thing was having the vet cut the lot off... this seemed to stimulate the healing and all he has now is a wee scar (from a wound 5 inches long, 3 inches wide that was down to the bone and had tendong hanging out)... ask your vet, cutting it off may be the best idea...

 

[brightmount]

Scarlett, how long after the injury did your vet "cut the lot off"?

 

[Petrie]

My horse was kicked recently on his gaskin, and had a very nasty wound, which produced some proud flesh. After 3 weeks, I rang the vet to get his view on it, who told me to be patient and give it another week, then report back if it was getting worse.

I didn't need to as it started to shrink, and has now disappeared totally and the hair has grown over, so we were very lucky.

I couldn't bandage the spot as it was too high up his leg, so I just left it open, but bathed it daily and used the cream from the vet (Famizone I think.) Not sure if that made a difference and helped it dry up more quickly.

 

[fairhill]

I'd forgotten about this, but the vet cut off most of the proud flesh of my mare's knee twice. She waited until it had stabilised before cutting it the first time (I think it was about 2 months after she fell, but she'd gone through to the tendons, so it took a long time to heal).
There was very little to cut off the second time. It was a case of smoothing it more than anything else.

She also did some laser treatment on the scarred area, but I'm not convinced it made any difference

 

[sevenoceans]

my horse was kicked in his knee!, swelled up overnight and small cut became pround flesh.... as it was in impossible place the vet told me i had to keep the knee pressurised to prevent it from getting bigger (the flesh not swelling) and applied Aloe vera, skintact on wound, gamgee/ vetwrap then Tubi grip over knee as he was better off outside 24/7 to keep moving/swelling down.... i had to do this for nearly 2 weeks (when the cut has finally closed), unfortunatly it formed kind of fluidy lump on his knee (about 1 inch diameter)

 

[Scarlett]

[ QUOTE ]
Scarlett, how long after the injury did your vet "cut the lot off"?

[/ QUOTE ]

it was on the 4th bandage change, so about 3 weeks later.... I have pics of it before and after if any use - or theres pics of it in Horse Magazine last month if you have it....?

 

[brightmount]

I will PM you for pics (unless you can post them on here)! Do they do that under sedation and local anaesthetic?

 

[280478]

i used to work in a rehab yard which dealt with injuries and wounds/tendon damage we used to use a liquid called silver nitrate which came i a form of a pen and you ran it over the excess proud flesh and it gradually burns it off.no discomfort for the horse.ask your vet to see if this is still a treatment that is still in use.
hope this might give u anotha option.i wouls sugest consulting the vet for any treatment advice as there so many different ointments u can use.cut your costs by getting professional advice and the best treatment help.

 

[MagicMelon]

Try Cut Heal. My vet recommends it for almost every cut / skin damage. It keeps proud flesh away so really helps with the healing. One of my gashed her leg in a bad way (in a place which couldnt be stitched), I put Cut Heal on it daily (washing with salty water once a week if I could, she didnt like it much!!) and it healed up extremely well to the point that she was left with no scar at all! Not even white hairs or anything.

Fabulous stuff!

 

[PapaFrita]

I think Tia had very good results using Camrosa on proud flesh. You could try PMing her if she doesn't tell you herself soon

A mare of mine had some on her pastern and it DID reduce significantly of its own accord over a year or so.

 

[ru-fi-do]

I'm also a big Aloe Vera user, even use it on myself! But at the same time i also rate Camrosa, I haven't used it myself on proud flesh but I know someone that has, with brilliant results, i think there may be something on their website about proud flesh?

 

[Tia]

I've used Camrosa on aged proud flesh scars. It completely got rid of them and the hair even grew back. The horse had had the scars for a couple of years before I tried Camrosa on it. It was absolutely amazing.

 

[brightmount]

I will keep Camrosa as a backup plan. I was a bit reluctant to try it as I've heard stories of it making flesh wounds worse, but your experience Tia sounds encouraging.

I used Fuciderm for 2 days as recommended on this thread and it did seem to stabilise in that time, looking more scabby and less like something out of 'Alien'.

My trial pot of Equaide has come since, so I started using that yesterday, and psychologically, I like it as it's almost black, so it instantly disguises the scar! Not very logical I know, but hopefully it will fulfil its promise, as it comes with a money back guarantee. I'll post back with my results.

 

[Gingernags]

Have a look at this link - we had a mare that badly cut her leg and it wasn't healing, lots of proud flesh etc, and we used honey - just pure honey from a supermarket in a sqeezy bottle - and left on for at least 48 hours before changing the dressing.

There is not even a hint of a scar now, totally healed and gone.

honey post

 

[wombat]

my mare who had proudflesh from an op not too unlike yours.. had such bad proudflesh and we used alternative therpy.. and it really worked.. here are some pics of her leg.. even the vet was like OMG!!! THATS REALLY WORKED! here are some pics only two sorry..

and then another pic of a couple of weeks later

and it really worked in the end it went down to nothing didnt get anypics sorry
i would say get incontact with an alternative therapist.. and go from there...