Wounds that take a long time to heal.

[Allykat]

Just wondering if anyone elses horses have the same problem. When ever my TB gets a wound of somesort he takes ages to heal and any leg wounds always seem to leave an ugly bump. I clean everything with dilute hibiscrub and the cooled boiled salt water and I have used various gels, lotions and potions and he seems to do the same everytime. The wound looks to be scabbing over, then scab drops off to show open weeping wound underneath so the whole cleaning bathing cleansing carries on for much longer than it should.

He has 2 bumps now on his back leg just above the fetlock. Niether went proud but they have left bumps on the surface.

Any ideas??

 

[peaelf]

rosemary oil and aloe vera gel mixed works really well i found.

 

[brightmount]

Tell me about it

My TB is a tough girl but very accident prone! We had a horrendous leg wound some months back. It didn't look much to start with, but it opened up and there was infection deep inside that was impossible to reach. Antibiotics didn't help. Flamazine that the vet gave us was useless. We hot poulticed in the end which drew it out, but like you, we ended up with a lump, but not a flesh lump, it's a bony lump like a splint *sob*

She isn't at all bothered by it, I don't know if it will reduce in time.

 

[custard]

Clenderm cream is excellent, contains salicylic acid which helps skin heal. Used it lots on my old mares mud fever as very soothing and not greasy washes off with water.

I think you can only get it from the vet and the other one we tried was Dermisol

 

[Allykat]

Maybe is a TB thing. Joe seems to have a "forgotten" back leg. If he gets a cut, scrape of graze it will be that same leg

Our lumps are like splints, so sounds very similar

They dont seem to bother him in anyway....just me!

 

[Allykat]

We use to have clenderm at my yard but apparently it is not being made anymore so we can't get it

 

[vicijp]

Wounds have two ways of healing, wet and dry. If dry, then they scab up andheal underneath. If wet then they heal from the inside and form no scab.
The problem with dry is that if the wound is on a moving bit of skin (ie, joint) then the skin will pull and the scab will fall off - leaving the whole process to start again. This is also how proud flesh forms on more serious wounds.
Healing a wound wet idfeally needs to be covered. When you are sure there is no risk of infection (ie, leg is not going to swell up) then it is best to put a dressing on for a few days. A melolin with intrasite (or any hydrogel) can be left on for 3 days. Other possibles are Inadine, Jelonet and the cod liver oil and honey dressings Henryhorn uses. For very small wounds Vaseline will do the job, I tend to smother the dry pads in it before using anything else anyway. Bandage with soffban and vetrap (altough if on a joint, handier to use tubigrip if you plan to ride/turnout), and support with a stable bandage when stood in.

 

[claire1976]

I had immense trouble getting my TB mare's hock wound to heal last year. She'd been bandaged for 6 weeks and I got so fed up I ripped them off and applied MSM cream 3 times a day. within a week there was a 50% improvement. Within 2-3 weeks it was completely healed with no further probs.

 

[kick_On]

i know this sound stupid, but i've always be a firm beleiver in that you can tell how health a horse is, by how quickly they recover from this type of wounds.
In my eyes i would be a bit worried if a minor wound was taking a long time to heal.
I'm certainly not suggestng anything bad, but i personnely would have a look at your horse diet, hard feed, hay/haylege, grass quailty and water etc.. and see if missing any mineral/vitamins or anything you could improve on etc...
but there again you just may own that type and needs more management than most

 

[AmyMay]

Can you just leave it alone?????

 

[Skhosu]

Yup, mine is that same. Has about 4 bumps altogether on back leg, plus overall three 'scabby' lumps which just don't heal.
Vet said slow healer, nothing to do really, (mind.vet doesn't want to touch him with a barge pole!!)
New horse also has a coupple of cuts (WHY did I buy a tb type? Swore I wouldn't...they are nightmares with injuries!)

 

[kick_On]

sorry disagree about TB, they may be sensative, BUT mine have always healed very quickly

 

[K_T]

I was just thinking the other day about how quickly my horse heals, any scratches or small wounds she gets heal up in a couple of days and leave no mark whereas my friends horse takes ages to heal and usually ends up with a bit of a lump in the area.

 

[carthorse]

We are on intracite ,softban and vetwrap at present and today the vet has doubled the amount of antibiotic[2 sachets]as his leg above the bandage has filled[hock]He thinks it is soft tissue infection .Wound one week old slice on inside of fetlock.He always gets infected and this wound was very deep,asked vet about supplements but not a great help.He has alfa a/unmol. s beet,comp. mix[not at the moment on box rest]soya oil,pro plus,d & h balancer and fibre nuts in his play ball.Praying he will mend for dressage champs but it is getting doubtful

 

[kick_On]

Is horsy still sound??? as you'll be surprised how a little inhand grazing or very light ridden exercise can work well
How long away is you big comp???
and you can get supplement to help immuse system it's probably your vets don't beleive it them
I'm also not great fan of powder antcibotoics (sp), i personnely prefer inject in rump with good old fashion depecilin (penecilln) and injection are cheaper BUT you need good injector

as is more risky

 

[carthorse]

He is sound and we have walked him out ridden for 10 mins today and tonight as the bandage is holding wound together.Dressage champs is April 11th,BD say we can wear a vetwrap to protect wound if vet says he needs it and is fit to compete,I never knew you could have anything on their legs.He has to have powders now last time{xmas] he had a small patch of mudfever and that blew his legs up so vet gave him injection in chest ,next day there was some fluid there ,I injected into rump but next day his chest and rump were very painful so now he has powders[He had three 5 day courses for the mudfever]Now he has been on them for 7days[first intravascular]then oral today started double dose.Haven't looked at him in trot just looks ok at walk.
What sup. do you recom.

 

[kick_On]

i'm no expert but i'm also a great belieiver that a wound has to heal from inside out and at some point you need fresh air to get at wound, to help with healing process. Also if still weeping wound need also a natural drain out of body
What i do is, when wound is at certain point, for walk exercise off come ALL bandage allow air onto legs etc... then once back in stable re-dressage then next day do same but remove all again and if improvement in wound i would try leave bandages of for say half a day (wound is a bit dried then put on something like wound powder, but something to keep wound dry) and keep on programme like this cos, if you never rome bandages wound will never heal, but you have to balence removing bandages with legs filling

oooo he's a bit sensative!!! mine doesn't eat podwer so will look a like bit like a pin cushons (but that tb in him)
also doctor green (grass) is an cure, if you can't do in hand, cut some daily for him
-What sup. do you recom-sorry don't understand

Not seeing wound i would say if quick healer, but if mine comp would be not a problem. Mine as just recover for kick injury to hock and i was ridding him with 3days and he when back into full time work 8days after injury andat start his hock was twice originally siz and wouldd was size of 2p peice, he now out daily with not treatment of it and it's the size of 5p piece but a very goo scab

 

[Allykat]

It is good to hear there are other lumpy legged neds out there....meant in the nicest possible way

Kick_on.....I too was beginning to feel concerned that there maybe a "reason" for him not healing quick but he's really fit, well, shiney and a picture of health. He had a check over with his jabs at the end of feb and all was well, so I think its just him.

I have to say I have never used honey on wounds, might try it on the next one (no point touching wood as there is bound to be a next one!!)

Would an immune boosting supplement help??

 

[Allykat]

I think our problem seems to be more with apparent dry wounds. They scab over nicely, look like they are healing well, then the scab seems to loosen up, drop off and the wound is then yukky underneath. This happens on any wound anywhere. Then we have to start the cleaning all over and then treat as a wet wound.

Everything seems to go through 2 stages of healing.

Should I just treat everything as a "wet" wound and not let a scab form???

 

[carthorse]

Wet wound treatment seems to be the modern thinking ,keeps clean,pressure keeps together so less proud flesh and heal from inside but it does take alot of work and they will prbably have to stay in

 

[Skhosu]

Actually, I have found all our tb/tb type horses to be a)sensitive (can be in inverted commas!)
and more prone to injury and less good at healing.

 

[Stinkbomb]

I am also a firm believer that a wound needs to heal from the inside out. If my horse had a scab i would leave it on for a couple of days then soak it off. This way the skin has had time to heal underneath but by soaking the scab off it allows the fresh air to it. My old pony Simon suffered a broken rib and had to have surgery to remove splintered fragments. I just used Hibiscrub to clean it ( Had to stick a hose attachment onto a syringe to get right into the wound ) and just let the fresh air get to it. He was on antibiotics and pain killers for a long time though. I also had him on a supplement called Visorbin which promotes red cell production. This seemed to help alot.
Here are some pictures of how this helped Simons side to heal. I WARN YOU THEY ARE NOT NICE!

Photo taken february 2006 just after operation.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r278/sallyskellern/P1010521.jpg

Photo taken May 2006 3 months later

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r278/sallyskellern/P1010641.jpg

And here is a link for the VISORBIN

VISORBIN

 

[Allykat]

Goodness Stinkbomb.....!! That is an amazing recovery

I try to leave any scabs on for a couple of days but they seem to come off before I get to them to soak off.

Does anyone elses TB hop around on 3 legs with just a simple cut...or is that just mine??? A small graze usually results in much drama and lameness which increases with the length of time anyone is looking at said cut

 

[kick_On]

i would strongly recommend honey treatment to avoid proud flesh as suggested earlier in thread

i would say yes, your gg just sounds more senative that most