 |
[RC] abscess or tendon? - Mary KraussLeo-the-no-longer-Lame recently grew out the final part of the enormous blown-out abscess he'd suffered through this past summer. Before the thing came to its violent resolution, his whole leg stocked up, hot and swollen, all the way past his hock. The vet said he wasn't sure soaking does much really but that it couldn't hurt. I already knew not to poke at it or try to drain it (Leo's was waaay too deep to mess with--not anywhere near a surface that could be pricked open with a light touch). He advised that we let the abscess resolve itself on its own, and told me how much bute to give and how often to take the edges off the pain.What threw me about the whole experience was the location of the swelling. I hope I'm not distorting or oversimplifying his words, but I recall the vet saying that the swelling moves up because the hoof itself simply can't swell. Weird concept. At any rate, seems the infection was localized to the abscess in the foot yet the swelling occurred miles away, way up his leg.... Between this episode and the horse-first-aid class I just attended, it seems we're best off letting nature take its course if possible. The presenter said that saline wash of a wound is often best and that scrubbing, bandaging, scrubbing, bandaging, is actually BAD--that one can damage delicate tissue that is trying to heal the wound.... I love it when I hear that less is more because I'm a fundamentally lazy person. It was particularly gratifying to hear my friend who always accuses me of being overly casual about wounds (she's a nurse) get chastised. hee hee hee. Mary K. who believes mightily in a horse's ability to fight infection. In comparison, humans are such biological whimps.... =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|