Sacroilliac injury

[dellmisty]

My horse has recently been diagnosed with an injury in her sacroilliac joint. My vet has given me a very guarded prognosis. I've been told to rest her for 6 weeks then start, just walking in hand,then start a little ridden work, walking for 6 weeks then trot after that for another 6 weeks and after that try a canter. It was in the canter that the problem manifested itself, as she was bucking. Has anyone had a similar problem and what was the outcome, good or bad? I forgot to say she was also diagnosed with kissing spines, although my vet was not too woried about that. She has had shock wave treatment in her spine and cortisone injections into the sacroilliac joint.

 

[Bozzy]

Sounds very similar to my boy, has kissing spines (diagnosed Sept) and Sacriliac injury (diagnosed a week ago). He's had cortisone injections in both areas as well as his hocks. Vets advice was light work for a week then back to normal. I took him to a physio yesterday who thinks the majority of his problems are due to his posture so I'm spending the 3-4 weeks on the ground working on that. I'm remaining hopeful for a positive outcome and we'll be back to normal in no time!

 

[debradley]

Hi there you need to contact Dozziesmum about this. She's had very similar thing with the sacroilliac injury. Might be worth having a word.

The other thing that might be worth mentioning is that many of the horses that are diagnosed with KS also show problems in other areas as they compensate by holding themselves incorrectly to get relief from the pain of KS; so your sacroilliac injury may be a result of the KS and not the other way around. Good luck with the ground work and getting your horse working in a good outline to strengthen the back. Keep us informed.

 

[dozzie]

As Debradley says I have experience of this!!! There are other people on the forum who have also experienced it. When I tried to research it I could find out very little but the responses from people on here really helped me.

What I found out was that complete rest didnt seem to work, infact rest often made the situation worse. ( If my horse has box rest for more than 3 weeks she is virtually back to square one) Physio seemed to have better results so that is the route I chose. I dont think it can be cured unless you have your horse injected with P2G but if this goes wrong the consequences are dire so I decided not to risk it as my horse was rideable and sound.

My horse was diagnosed in April last year and has undergone several treatments with physio and this has really helped. I was also advised on some inhand exercises to help. She is never allowed time off although before Christmas i was only able to realistically ride her at weekends but that meant she HAD to be schooled at weekends. And she regressed. At the moment, I avoid very steep hills as these seem to cause problems but hopefully as she gets stronger she will be able to cope with them.

The key thing is that your horse has to develop the correct muscle tone through the back slowly to support the injury. Hence why you need a sympathetic instructor. Dont push your horse too far too soon or you will be back to square one. And dont give her time off once she is in work.
I also invested in a Wow saddle and it has really helped.

Also get someone to video you riding your horse and watch for tail swishing, changing legs in canter, lack of tracking up, tail held to one side, etc. This will help you to see what signs she is showing and what to look for as she progresses. Then Video every couple of months to help you to monitor progress. Ive found this really useful. Continue to work her aiming for a long low outline and lift through the back but expect setbacks. For example, last week mine had a strop on a hack and the next day we had bucking and resistance in the school and major tail swishing! That's one of her signs! So I suspect she tweeked something again! You just have to know what signs to look for in your horse as there seems to be no hard and fast rules.

Your horse may well be "lazy" as a result of SI but you have to work her through this. She has to work through her back to develop the muscles to help her so you have to be cruel to be kind.

I also think that the SI may have been caused by your horse compensating for the kissing spines. You need to speak to a Physio or Chiro to find out. Is there anyway you can get this operated on? Just think that you might be on a hiding to nothing if you dont get to the root cause?

I actually went against my vets advice as he felt that work and physio wouldnt help. He now acknowledges it has!

So find a good physio!

If you get your vet to agree your insurance might pay

My horse had 16 days boxrest (5 at the horspital and 10 days after cortisone jabs) and was then into slow fittening work and physio.

Hope this helps.

Feel free to pm me.!

 

[seabiscuit]

Grr.So many vets get it wrong.. If the back x rays are showing kissing spine then that is what is causing theSacroliliac injury and pain. No matter what you do to treat the sacroliliac, it will never become comfortable for the horse unless you treat the cause of the symptons. Cortisone and shockwave treatment is just a short term patch up job, it is simply sealing over the cracks in the walls.Unless the kissing vertebrate are operated on, the sacroliliac will never become right.
Just my opinion from experiences anyway, as it makes me sick and tierd to hear of yet another person sent on a wild goose chase by their vets regarding the treatment of kissing spine and sacroliliac injuries as I wasted so much time going down the shockwave and cortisone route in treating my horse. But hey I am not a vet and every case is different.

 

[dozzie]

[ QUOTE ]
If the back x rays are showing kissing spine then that is what is causing theSacroliliac injury and pain. No matter what you do to treat the sacroliliac, it will never become comfortable for the horse unless you treat the cause of the symptons.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's what I feel too!!! Mine doesnt have kissing spine but does have neck issues which the Vet thinks are unrelated to the SI!!! But both Physio and myself think they are related! Many vets just dont know much about SI and how to treat it.

I would push for a referral on the KS to find out if this can be sorted. The physio after KS surgery will be equally as supportive for SI.

 

[debradley]

Again as I said early the KS is probably the thing causing the SI. It is really important that you get this looked into as well, it does cause the horses a lot of pain. Anyway you can get a second opinion? Only reason why I say is because if you go down the coritsone route is that you will spend a lot of money or take up a lot of your insurance up only to find that you will need the KS treated properly and you may end up with the insurance not covering all of it.

 

[dozzie]

[ QUOTE ]
Again as I said early the KS is probably the thing causing the SI

[/ QUOTE ]

Highly likely I would think!!! I cant understand why the vet has dismissed the KS.

I'd definitely ask for a second opinion quickly because your insurance clock is ticking away.

 

[MaverickMD]

Further to my posts recently, my girl has been to Leahurst for a bucking in canter problem. Has been going on for a long while. They gave her a Gamma Scingraphy - which showed nothing in her Sacroilliac / pelivs area or hocks although the bucking is typical of sacrolliac problems. They then gave her an ultrasound - ligaments showed OK. So they injected with anesthetic into her pelvis region and hey ho - she came sound. So they have injected with cortasteroids, anti-inflams and muscle relaxants - and she has come home (after a week a Leahurst) with muscle relaxant tablets to take.

(No kissing spine found - in fact she had "exceptional range of movement in her spine" !!)

Her Discharge Instructions are - Week 1 and 2 Trun out during the day / box at night (to let the drugs take effect and relax the muscles etc)
Week 3 and 4 - Long rein working up to lunging 15 mins twice a day
Week 5 and 6 - Begin ridden work - 30 mins hacking out alternating with schooling, long rein and lunging on days not ridden

The Consultant said that I had to keep her in constant work from now on - so that the muscles stayed tight and fit around the joints - he wants her to do small and often work rather than 1 hard session.

I hope this helps.

Maverick MD

 

[TFS]

my horse had sacroilliac joint injury, not sure how, or how long he had it before it was diagnosed,he too had injections in to his hocks as well as being given sinecquin (Sp?) he had some time off and i did try and bring him back into work, but he never seemed quite right, as he was a jumping horse and thats what he loved i decided to retire him he is quite happy looking after my youngsters, we were never sure whether it was his hocks or the sacroilliac joint that was the main problem

 

[Mon77]

Further to my posts recently, my girl has been to Leahurst for a bucking in canter problem. Has been going on for a long while. They gave her a Gamma Scingraphy - which showed nothing in her Sacroilliac / pelivs area or hocks although the bucking is typical of sacrolliac problems. They then gave her an ultrasound - ligaments showed OK. So they injected with anesthetic into her pelvis region and hey ho - she came sound. So they have injected with cortasteroids, anti-inflams and muscle relaxants - and she has come home (after a week a Leahurst) with muscle relaxant tablets to take.

(No kissing spine found - in fact she had "exceptional range of movement in her spine" !!)

Her Discharge Instructions are - Week 1 and 2 Trun out during the day / box at night (to let the drugs take effect and relax the muscles etc)
Week 3 and 4 - Long rein working up to lunging 15 mins twice a day
Week 5 and 6 - Begin ridden work - 30 mins hacking out alternating with schooling, long rein and lunging on days not ridden

The Consultant said that I had to keep her in constant work from now on - so that the muscles stayed tight and fit around the joints - he wants her to do small and often work rather than 1 hard session.

I hope this helps.

Maverick MD

MaverickMD. Realise this post was 3 years ago but wondered if you could help me, Since you mention Leahurst I figured you were up North and I live in Anglesey.

I bought my Sexy Hexy 2 years 4 months ago. Ex Grade A showjumper. I use him for leisure riding. Had him 5 star vetted when I bought him. The vet from Cheshire said he was in remarkably good nick for a horse that had performed at his level. I asked how best to keep him that way and he said " Ride him - use it or lose it ". So that is the adage I have used. If I cant ride I have lunged him in a pessoa for 15 to 20 mins once warmed up.He is generally worked 4 - 5 times a week. I went away with work end of September for 1 week . He got ridden once. I come back to a horse that is hind leg lame in walk. I have had therapist, Osteopath and 2 weeks ago I had Richard Owen , our specialist horse vet in North Wales . he gave him 6 days bute and said to leave him for a month and walk him out in hand. If no better we would have to do more tests. 2 weeks on, he is getting worse. He is twisting his off hind when he walks in some kind of compensatory way. Richard thinks the injury is coming from up top as the initial flexion tests he did showed nothing. The osteo said he had muscle spasm in superficial glute and had twisted in L4 and L5. It seems to me the more he is left not working , the worse he is getting. In fact this morning, I have just arranged for Richard to come back early next week to see him because the fetlock on the leg he is twisting in walk is now thickening ( no heat )

My questions to you are . Were you insured and did the insurance cover all those tests you mentioned at Leahurst? Who was your consultant. ? any advice you could give please ? Thanks