Splints, lameness and recovery time - help!

[orsceno1]

Back at the beginning of August (so around 9 weeks ago), my horse developed a huge splint on the inside of his left hind. The vet advised 6 weeks box rest, which he had with some walking out in hand. During this time I used ice compresses twice daily and magnetic boots. The splint certainly reduced in size and the surrounding inflamation decreased but was still large (golfball sized). Anyway...after this box rest we slowly reintroduced turn out (now out 24/7) and ridden walk with a few mins of trot (following vets advice). Well to cut a long story short, he is still lame and Im not sure what to do next

. When lunged on a circle (in trot) he appears sound on the left rein but on the right rein he is clearly short stepping and hopping on the outside (left) hind. Im not really very good at assessing lameness - is this normal?! Anyway, Im not sure whether to field rest him for a while longer, or keep him in very light work in the hope the splint will settle? Vet was kind of advising the latter and to be honest he doesnt feel lame when Im on him (hence the lunging so I can look at him properly). he is a very stiff horse behind and needs to be kept working or he really stiffens through his back..... gahhh......
Oh, and to further complicate things, I had been using Splintex silver (over last 4 weeks or so). However he had a reaction to it and the leg swelled around the splint so I stopped last week. But do you think that using the Splintex is keeping the splint active and preventing it from properly settling down? It hasnt appeared to do much for the size of the splint anyway (so far!)
Any suggestions/experiences most welcome

 

[PapaFrita]

I think Splintex acts as a very mild blister. As such, it can certainly cause inflammation around the splint (this is what blisters are supposed to do, allegedly(because as I've been told there is no scientific proof blisters work) to increase bloodflow to the site and so accelerate healing and will indeed prevent it from settling (but that's sort of the objective in order for it to shrink) Anyways... is it possible that the position of the splints might be causing problems? The reason I ask is that PF has very teeny splints on her forelegs, BUT they're right in the groove, and (so I was told by my vet, I didn't reach this conclusion by myself) in such a position that they interfered with her ligaments.
It's quite unusual to find splints on hindlegs, isn't it? I think in the end you might just have to be reeeeeally patient and wait for it to settle. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

 

[orsceno1]

Yeah, I think Splintex might be a mild blister - just not sure how it works!
The splint is huge so kind of goes into the grove on his leg. Not sure about the ligament theory - he was X-rayed when it was first done to check the splint bone wasnt fractured - would this show up any interference with the ligament?

Am beginning to think that patience is the only answer, just dont want to be doing (or not doing!) something that may help his recovery - bloomin horse

 

[beaconhorse]

good grief it is taking a long long time to heal. I will keep everything crossed for you. Beacon now has 2 splints one on back and one on front. Lucky for me he was not lame with either of them

 

[_jetset_]

The equissage hand unit is good for getting blood flowing to the area and help the healing process. Could be worth thinking about... Going to try and use it on my new mare's splint near her knee

 

[PapaFrita]

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The splint is huge so kind of goes into the grove on his leg. Not sure about the ligament theory - he was X-rayed when it was first done to check the splint bone wasnt fractured - would this show up any interference with the ligament?

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I don't know. PF wasn't lame all the time though; she would go unlevel after work and then after a day off be fine. Vet said that ligament (I didn't ask which one) was rubbing on splint.
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Am beginning to think that patience is the only answer

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You're probably right, but it does seem like rather a long time for a splint to settle!

 

[BethH]

Splintex is a mild blister - my youngster had a splint as a 4 year old, I really panicked not having dealt with one before. My vet advised because he was not a particularly patient horse that he wouldn't put him on box rest as would do more harm than good but that turnout must be gentle, i.e., not hoolying around with other horses. It can take a long time for a splint to settle, bear in mind a spavin can take a couple of years to come good, a couple of months for a splint is nothing. Don't panick about it too much it is very common, gentle turnout with a quiet old horse would be great and light exercise i,e soft ground, mainly walk as you are already doing, any concussion on hard ground or faster work will just keep jarring it and stopping it from settling. This regime for 6-8 weeks worked well for my horse, he still had odd flare ups of soreness over the next few months probably because I didn't leave it alone for long enough thinking as soon as he was sound it was fixed! 12 months on I wasn't even thinking about it, even though you could still see the bump, but 2 years on I barely notice it and the bone has done a good job of remodelling itself, I used DMSO and found it didn't really work.

I guess what I am trying to say is time is a great healer if you don't overdo it to start off with. Hope that helps.