I went out to check on my retired horse last night and his knee was the size of a mellon! It looks like he fell and scraped his knee and I didn’t catch it in time to get it cleaned and wrapped before it swelled up. I go to get my betadine and fura to clean and wrap it and everything that I have is FROZEn (it’s 10 degrees here). So, I gave him 2 bute and wrapped him and plan to go out this afternoon with hot water and defrosted meds to clean him up. Any advice on how to help him along? He’s on no turnout right now (too icy) but I would love to get the swelling down.
I went out to check on my retired horse last night and his knee was the size of a mellon! It looks like he fell and scraped his knee and I didn’t catch it in time to get it cleaned and wrapped before it swelled up. I go to get my betadine and fura to clean and wrap it and everything that I have is FROZEn (it’s 10 degrees here). So, I gave him 2 bute and wrapped him and plan to go out this afternoon with hot water and defrosted meds to clean him up. Any advice on how to help him along? He’s on no turnout right now (too icy) but I would love to get the swelling down.
Just like the retired ones to give us the most troublr! If it has been past the twenty-four hour mark I would clean the scrape and put a furazone-dmso sweat on the knee and give two grams bute … Too bad he has to be stall bound. That cold weather would do the knee wounders.Good luck. 
Like an idiot, I was going to recommend running cold water, yah right, 
I’ve been in the desert too long. More like spitting ice cubes from a hose if I recall.
I think the sweat and wrap and bute sounds very good. The cold will probably not hurt much either. Some of scrapes at the knee are in an area with so little space between skin and bone, they swell like the dickens. No place for the swelling to go but OUT.
Best of luck…brrrrrr.
Is his knee warm or cold? If it’s warm, you need to ice it, if it’s cold, you can sweat it.
Ultrasound treatments can help with the swelling. I have a great vet who has a spare machine that he will loan out for this sort of thing. He lets you keep it for a few days to do the treatment yourself rather than have him out every day to perform the treatment.
For the first 24-48 hours, apply cold. Damaged cells are releasing chemicals into the tissues and blood vessels that dilate blood vessels, cause fluid to leak from them into the tissues, and brings white blood cells into the tissues. If there is no infection, it is better to have less leakage and less white blood cells (they also release enzymes and things in response to the chemicals from the damaged tissues that further damage tissues). Cold decreases the influx of fluid into the area, as it constricts the blood vessels. After that, heat is good since the chemicals that are released from damaged cells are no longer being released. Now is the time that dilating the blood vessels helps bring nutrients to the damaged tissues so that they can get repaired.
If there is no cuts on it you can also use Poultice (if I spelt it correctly) my retired horse last year, had a swollen hock so we put poultice on, took a plastic bag wrapped it then took normal wraps to wrap it around. It is a little messy since it is like clay of somesort but it worked miracles on my horse. Everyday you have to wash down his leg though before re-applying. Good luck with your horse!
Keli Ann B.
swelling out in 24-48 hours …
