SI injections.. any success stories???

[italylyns]

My mare has neen diagnosed with SI pain and ive been told chances of her responding to the meds are very slim but i obviously have to give it a try!!
My mare was at a point where she absolutely refused to canter.
Anyone had these injections?

 

[Shay]

I've done this relatively frequently with SJrs. Never had any problems. You have to allow for the withdrawal period for competition of course but they can work the next day. But I've never let a horse go quite as long as it sounds like yours has so I'm not sure if that would have an impact on how effective it is.

Why are the chances of her responding slim?

 

[be positive]

My horse had a chronic SI injury, missed by the original vets so by the time it was treated I was told it may not work and that if it didn't there were no other options, he did respond well, had a very slow careful rehab, loads of physio and came back physically extremely well, he could canter comfortably and jumped enthusiastically but has since been retired for other reasons, he is living out happily and his quarters are still totally level, there was an obvious difference before treatment, I don't think he would be field sound by now if he had not had the injections when he did.

I would give it a go but be prepared to back up the injections with a very good rehab, a decent physio involved and from my experience try to extend the rehab from whatever the vet suggests, I also strapped every day, the longer you take each stage the more chance of the muscles building up correctly and remaining that way, I think my boy has a bigger bum now even out of work than he did before the injury although some may be due to him being a little porky in general.

 

[confirmedponyaddict]

Mine had them 3 weeks ago. She came back from a holiday lame and with very uneven hindquarters, I think she must have injured it in the field as she does like to prat about, I think the muscle wastage has definitely improved, I'm walking either mounted or on long reins for up to and hour with a small trot. She seems to get sounder as she works, still comes out quite stiff and wonky. I want to get her looking a bit better before I get the chiropractor out who also does physio. It seems to be a mixed bag from what I have read but I'm trying to stay positive!

 

[supsup]

Mine had an SI injection which led to no noticeable improvement. However, that was in a situation where we couldn't figure out where the problem (bunny hops in canter) was coming from (back? SI? suspensories?). So we basically injected the SI to rule it out (after also having done spinal x-rays, which showed nothing). The vet explained to me that blocking the SI for diagnostic purposes carries the risk of numbing a leg (and horse falling over), so he only does that at the clinic (with padded box). And in any case, if SI is the problem, then you'd inject with steroids anyway. So we took the pragmatic option of injecting SI with steroids, but since not obvious improvement, it probably wasn't the root cause after all.

 

[Mule]

A family member has a horse that got the injection. It worked very well. Carrot stretches and walking over uneven height cavaletti was used for rehab.