Healing face stitches

[Rosebud94]

my mare recently got a cyst removed on the right side of her nose about half an Inch above her nostril. She is in good spirits but the vet wants me to spray some aerosol wound care directly on it and she’s already not a fan of getting sprayed on her body let alone her face. I won’t be able to twitch her due to the location of the stitches so I was hoping someone has some ideas on how to get her to not flip out when I have to care for it.

side note is their any herbs or anything that will aid in the healing? She’s already on spirula but I’m hoping to get this healed ASAP!

[2DogsFarm]

Try spraying the aerosol stuff onto a sponge, then sponge the treatment on her stitches.
Sorry, I have no herbal knowledge.
Maybe Arnica - supposed to heal bruises?

My TB cut his upper lip & needed 7 stitches to close the wound (on a Sunday, of course:rolleyes:)
When healed you could not tell where the stitches had been.

[JB]

Is there any reason you can’t spray the stuff on a very soft face brush or soft cloth and dab it on?

Is there any reason it has to be an aerosol product? What is it?

Your vet should be your first line of questions or an alternative product.

[Simkie]

Faces heal SO well and SO quickly…I would be sorely temped to just skip anything topical all together.

But if it’s a must have, you could spray onto a gloved finger (latex or nitrile, not fabric gloves) and then smear on the horse. They glove won’t absorb, so you should be able to get nearly all of the product where it’s supposed to go.

[PrincessPonies]

My mare had face stitches last year, nothing like coming to the barn after only a few hours to find blood running down all of a white face. She would not let me anywhere near it for a week. When the stitches came out you couldn’t even tell anything had happen except for the clipped patch. I never put anything on it. In the four times my horse has had stitches I’ve never put anything them. If you really want to put something on I’d suggest a non fabric glove. My best guess for why your vet wants the spray and not something else is that the sprays tend to be like a second skin and doesn’t rub off.

[IPEsq]

Is there any draining? If so, I would not want to use the spray bandage. The face heals so fast, it should be fine without anything.

[Long_amp_Short_Ears]

I personally would do what the vet suggested.
What if you distracted her from the spray noise by loud music or talking kind loud but not yelling? Maybe warm it up as best you can so it dose not feel so cool or cold? If you treat her maybe wrinkle the paper of a cookie while shes interested spray her and then give it to her immediately try to get her to associate a treat with treatment?

[horsepoor]

@Simkie

But if it’s a must have, you could spray onto a gloved finger (latex or nitrile, not fabric gloves) and then smear on the horse. They glove won’t absorb, so you should be able to get nearly all of the product where it’s supposed to go.

This is what I have done for my spray-phobic horse. But I’d probably run it by my vet to make sure they were ok with that as an alternative application method, or they might suggest a different product.

Face injuries heal amazingly well. I’ve had a couple that I thought surely would scar and was surprised to find they pretty much disappeared once healed. I wouldn’t be too worried about any special healing concoctions.

[Rosebud94]

It’s the alusheild spray. Thank you everyone!
Has anyone ever used a glove to apply it??

[horsepoor]

@Rosebud94

It’s the alusheild spray. Thank you everyone!
Has anyone ever used a glove to apply it??

Yes, that’s how I had to do it when my young horse split his forehead on a bucket (talented!). Spraying was NOT going to happen once he was awake, so I would use a gloved hand to apply as best i could.

[IPEsq]

@Rosebud94

It’s the alusheild spray. Thank you everyone!
Has anyone ever used a glove to apply it??

A glove will work. It’s pretty wet right out of the can. You will want to use an exam glove, because it stains everything.

[PeteyPie]

I would not want to spray AluShield that close to a nostril because she might breathe it in right when you spray it. So to start with, I would do what has been suggested and try to wipe a blob of it onto the stitches. Other than that, if it were anywhere else on the face here is how I would do it, and what I did when my horse needed AluShield on a substantial cut on her face right between her eyes.

Shake the can a lot, right near the horse and facing her so she can see what you are doing. Then hold out the can and spray a little bit, a quick spray, downward between you and the horse so she can see what you are doing. That might provoke a reaction but just ignore her and brush her neck. Brush her neck holding the AluShield can, kind of rub the can on her so she gets used to the idea of the can getting close. Sprits a little bit on her shoulder, then ignore her. You’re done. Every time you groom her for the next few days, shake that can and spritz a little bit somewhere on her body or leg. You will get so you can control the spray and just get a little bit right where you want it.

The first time I sprayed my horse’s face wound I did it quickly with just a dab/spritz and she didn’t like it but I kept on every day and she reacted less each time. I think the noise is what they object to; I don’t think they actually feel the spray, and they get desensitized quite fast because it is a quicker action than fly spray and it doesn’t smell.

If I had to spray near a nostril, I would hold one hand over the opening and do a quick spritz while the nostril is covered. Oh, and spray close up so you don’t get a big cloud of overspray.

[kcmel]

@Simkie

Faces heal SO well and SO quickly…I would be sorely temped to just skip anything topical all together.

My horse tore his nostril almost all the way off (you could see his sinus cavity). I never put anything topical on it after it was stiched up, and it healed amazingly.

Which isn’t to say don’t try to follow your vet’s advice, but if she gets too worked up when you try to apply, it may not be worth it, or don’t be afraid to skip a day if she isn’t going to cooperate.

[PeteyPie]

I wonder if the vet recommended the spray to help healing or keep the flies off? I was using it to keep the flies off. Like everyone else has said, the face wounds heal amazingly well.