Would you get nerve blocks done or wait?

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cheekywelshie

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So..Jetboy is still lame :(

It started about 3 weeks ago which vet thought was in foot (bruise) so he was box rested and poulticed. Then vet came back and said he was sound - no reaction to hoof testers all heat gone. So I started doing walk work (scary moment where he slipped on road) then bits of trot then had a lesson - he went fab in lesson (last thursday) but instructor thought he landed unsound after jump. But trotted up ok. Day after did road work in walk - fine, day after in school - lame again (not hopping lame as before but definetly lame - same leg). No heat in hoof no swelling, trotted up fine on concrete but goes lame within a few minutes on the soft school surface. So I gave him a week off ( well 6 days) turned out and brought in in day. Vet came again today - he's exactly same - fine on concrete, lame on surface). He felt his legs - couldn't find anything. Suggested I think it over and the next step is nerve blocks. He said it's likely an insurance claim.


I have a high excess on my insurance and so am worried about the cost - i rang the vet up and gthey said anything between a few hundred to over a thousand! (I have several exclusions already because of colic, stringhalt etc)I am wondering whether to let him rest for a few weeks then try him on the lunge again to see if there is any improvement or just go straight in for the nerve blocks. They don't know what it is - i wonder if he pulled a muscle or something landing from the jump or maybe when he slipped (this was before lesson) -if lesson that was 8 days ago. But there has been no improvement at all since his week off. The problem is I don't know what it is and it may return when he is ridden even after rest. But I suppose then I would have given him a chance to recover before going down the vet route.

Any suggestions? :(
 
It wouldn't hurt to see if its a bit of tissue damage I suppose, and chuck him out for a few weeks. Did your vets say anything about whether it'd be worth letting him rest?
 
I would probably get a physio first then nerve block. Nerve blocks arent that dear anyway, i think i payed around £30 for one when my boyo went in for a lameness work up. My friends gelding went lame 3 weeks ago. She box rested him for 2 weeks, then the vet came out and basically didnt have a clue what it was. She used the hoof testers and he was sensitive to it so she said she thought it was an absess, but she couldnt find one and there were no heat or swelling or signs of anything at all. So she left and said she would have to come back the next day to remove the shoe and see if there was an absess under it :rolleyes: My friend and i agreed there was no way it was an absess and to us looked to be something above the hock. She got the physio out this morning and she said he had pulled muscles and must have fallen badly in the field and should be fine in a few weeks :)
 
If he were mine I would go for the nerve blocks as soon as possible. Although it might seem expensive to do the investigation it might save you money in the long term.

He is still lame after 3 weeks so its worth finding out what you are dealing with. The sooner you know what it is the sooner you can manage it effectively.

I would be worried about turning out without a diagnosis in case it is a soft tissue injury which might get a lot worse with excessive strain.
 
i got nerve blocks done on my horse and they weren't that expensive, it gave us an idea of where the pain was and then we also x-rayed the area which told us it definately wasn't bone/navicular/etc, my horse isn't insured for vets bills (they excluded so much) so we went ahead with soft tissue damage/injury/problems as the only way we could have known for sure was to get mri done and that would have been stupid money.

my horse is older and we only ever hacked anyway so it didn't matter that he had to have time off or how long he needed. just to add he also had intermittent lameness for a long time before i finally found a vet who would listen to me.
 
Fleabite said:
It wouldn't hurt to see if its a bit of tissue damage I suppose, and chuck him out for a few weeks. Did your vets say anything about whether it'd be worth letting him rest?
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Vet said fine to turn out but just to be on the cautious side i have put him in a small paddock on his own (one of the horses in his field was abit playful) - he goes out at night and comes in all day.
 
NicoleS_007 said:
I would probably get a physio first then nerve block. Nerve blocks arent that dear anyway, i think i payed around £30 for one when my boyo went in for a lameness work up. My friends gelding went lame 3 weeks ago. She box rested him for 2 weeks, then the vet came out and basically didnt have a clue what it was. She used the hoof testers and he was sensitive to it so she said she thought it was an absess, but she couldnt find one and there were no heat or swelling or signs of anything at all. So she left and said she would have to come back the next day to remove the shoe and see if there was an absess under it :rolleyes: My friend and i agreed there was no way it was an absess and to us looked to be something above the hock. She got the physio out this morning and she said he had pulled muscles and must have fallen badly in the field and should be fine in a few weeks :)
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Our chiro/osteopath is coming out on Weds to look at him - can't harm i guess! Vet said if i wanted to wait til then see what he said then think about nerve blocking that would be fine.
 
I have a big fuzzy who went x-c a week ago today round a short small course as a 'pleasure thing' with a friend. Old turf & nice going (not hard or rutted).
Hacked home & sound, turned out late morning with smaller fuzzy.
Brought in at tea-time & on being turned out again - I noticed that Fuzzy was lame as Fuzzy trotted off.
Short story - found heat on shoulder by testing with digi-therm, nothing else found at all anywhere else - even when farrier came out to shoe (he's a good'n). He suggested it was not foot but higher up.
Was worse if stood in for an hour or more, better if out 24/7 in paddock (that confuzzled me!)
Fuzzy trotted up each time totally sound in straight line - tho very slightly short on left rein when put round on a curve. Not been ridden since last Fri & Been on Bute for last 3 days after phone discussion with vet, have also as precaution been cold water hosing shoulder & ice-tite to legs too as treating at present for jarring/muscular injury.
Am doing my own assessment again on Sunday when been off bute for 24 hrs.
If not 100%happy (me or the fuzzy), will be going down the full monty early next week & phoning vet on Monday.

Good luck, hope it resolves.
 
Isn't is said that if lame on a softer surface then the injury could be ligament, and if lame on the hard then it could be tendon? So I would say that you may as well bite the bullet now and go for the lameness assessment and nerveblocking. I don't think that you will gain anything by waiting/resting because you currently have no idea exactly what you are dealing with. And I wouldn't ride again until you've had the assessment done. Good luck!
 
My farrier is coming up monday night to look again and the osteopath on Weds. After that i'll make the decision to get the nerve blocks done :( I hope it isn't navicular - i think i've been reading too much on the internet and it's scary!
 
Any update on yours yet cheeky welshie? :confused:

Mine was sound in all respects on lunge, trot up etc on Monday this week, so out we went tonight for gentle walk.
Chiro coming out anyway on Friday, so will keep big Fuzzy pottering till then.

Hope yours has an answer for you?
 
sorry to hear about your boy. i would rest him up for abit but streach him out every day and massage him. it isnt a good idea to read too many horror storys or info on the net, yet its not a bad idea to educate yourself. its where you draw the line. to me it sounds like soft tissue damage. he has to work harder on a surface there for pulling on his tendons, ligaments and muscles. i think if it were navicular the concrete would really upset him? or when he fell he pulled his back out? nerve damage? either way he needs time to heal with steady excersise if atall. walking out in hand etc. start from scratch when you know whats up. keep us updated.
 
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