Tendon Injury - PGE Injection (blistering/irratant)

[allbnl]

Whats people views on the "old treatment" of PGE - or to me blister/injecting irratant into the tendon to strengthen them to aid recovery.

Not sure i like the idea. Has anyone done it and seen the benefits?

pm me if you prefer.

 

[soloequestrian]

My view: these kinds of treatment are barbaric and have no scientific support whatsoever. Time is what heals tendons, not inducing more tissue damage.

 

[Tanta]

Not sure if it is quite the same, but my horse had an injury to the sesamoid bone (kicked on it) and my vet prescribed a mild blister as part of the teatment. It was actually fine (I remember years ago working in a hunter yard, when a horse had the old-fashioned blister, which was much more severe).

But this was much milder - I had to apply twice a day for 3 days, then leave for 3 days, then do again for 3 days. My horse needed a collar on for the 3 days (although I managed to leave it off at night (by then the blister had been mainly absorbed, and I put some vaseline on his mouth and chin to protect him if he did rub it a bit, and it didnt blister at all)

It did have an amazing effect - literally blistered the area, which filled and was warm - but the horse showed no discomfort at all - and after a few weeks when it had peeled and the hair grown back, you wouldnt know it had happened. And the injury is responding well, although I dont know how much due to the blister and how much due to bringing him back into work correctly.

so I agree with the previous poster about how barbaric traditional blsiters are - but the type my horse had certainly wasnt uncomfortable for him (well he showed absolutely no sign of even noticing it!) - and I trust my vet not to have done it unless he thought it would help....

 

[Cocoa]

Blistering is not something I would consider for tendon injury these days, there are much better, more advanced and scientifically sound treatments. Blistering and firing are surface treatments and they can not really improve deep down injuries. I tend to think of blistering in the same category of treatment as firing, which at one time was a banned practise. Bearing that in mind I wouldnt want to use those old-fashioned treatments.

It really depends on where the injury is? Which tendon?

How old is the injury? Stem cell therapy is great for (new) tendon injuries as it actually creates new tendon tissue rather than the less elastic scar tissue which is susceptible to reinjury.

What about ultrasound or laser therapy.

Shock wave therapy is also very good for some tendon/ligament injuries.