Ok Long story short. Last summer we had a horse at farm that got a bump. We did the Furizon/ DMSO sweat on it . It did go down alot but there is still a lump there.
Now this winter we want to aggresively try to get it dissolved even more.
I was told to " BLister " the area and allow it to scab over and dry out .
What is a good strong mixture to make a Blister . What about azium . How effective is that …
What is the cause of the “bump” scar tissue, hematoma?
Isn’t Azium a steroid / anti-inflammatory? My vet has prescribed it for hives, I couldn’t imagine that it could be used to “blister”.
Blistering is the act of causing severe irritation, in the hopes that the new injury you created will cause additional blood flow and speed the healing of an injury.
I don’t think it is something that I would causally subject my horse to, especially for a cosmetic bump! Not to mention it carries risk of scarring and infection.
We were told that a good strong sweat would work with this bump.
Is the bump scar tissue? Bone? Where is it located?
It is unlikely that causing a chemical burn to the skin is going to be beneficial for resolution of a purely cosmetic issue like this.
What is the ‘bump’ made of? Is it a bony lump? Scar tissue?
Blistering, as the previous poster described is meant to cause another injury so that the increased blood flow might magically remove the first injury. If the ‘bump’ is bony, there is little hope of this happening. If it scar tissue…well, it’s unlikely to help there either.
Sweats are meant only for soft tissue swelling, like bruising, tendonitis etc. The DMSO is an anti-inflammatory, and most other topicals (clay based poultices etc) are meant to osmotically draw fluid out of such a swelling.
I would not attempt to apply something caustic to an injury without knowing what it is that is injured. Have you tried calling a veterinarian?
Most likely the resolution of some of the bump was due to swollen tissue. A strong sweat that causes a blistering of the skin does little except cause pain and inflammation.
There may be some conditions which might be helped but I think this is more along the lines of one of those old wives tales best consigned to the dustbin of history along with trepining of humans. Used to be horses were blistered and then laid off or turned out. So what helped the most? The time off with either careful controlled handwalking/turnout or the blistering of the skin with the concommitant swelling. Have you ever seen a leg with a strong blister on it? The skin cracks, do you know that? If you are not familiar with creating a blister and then how much to put on a horse and how to care for it afterward, you stand a very good chance of creating a fairly nasty skin infection and perhaps worse.
Is the bump painful or just unsightly?
Just an FYI, dissolving of the bone occurs with time and perhaps some kind of electrostimulating with some of the better hand held devices. They do create increased circulation without the pain and possible disfigurement. (over sweating or a too strong sweat can cause wavy hair to grow back). I realize they are quite expensive and thus the possible attraction of a sweat. I am just not a proponent of it unless in the hands of a very experienced horse professional.
It is on the Hind Outside and is scar tissue that needs to be softened so it can be reduced. We were told a strong sweat or blister would help with that .
Why do people still blister? I would like to blister them! I have seen far too much MISUSE of blistering in my life! You blister, you have to put them on stall rest. Stall rest is what they needed to begin with. Blistering just made people actually give the horse stall rest.
Cripes, the OP wants a STRONG blister. Tell you what, why don’t you blister yourself, see how YOU like it. Make sure YOU have your own skin literally split apart, look at open flesh ooze, & eventually scab over. Test it out on your very own self, then I give you permission to blister the horse.
Listen to the vet responses on here, not likely to do this horse a bit of good.
Rant Over. :mad:
Exactly what steps are you going to take to “reduce” the scar tissue once it has been “softened”?
Time will do as much for this issue as anything you propose to try.
If you feel you must do something, try rubbing the scar with Vitamin E in oil twice a day.
Geez, you must have seen some horrific blistering. Blistering done totally wrong. Decades ago, a mild blister did help and they were used often.
Times have changed so I’m sure there are better treatments for injuries now.
[QUOTE=Dispatcher;5351022]
Geez, you must have seen some horrific blistering. [/QUOTE] Sure have.
Decades ago, a mild blister did help and they were used often.
I was around decades ago. Yes they were used often but no they never helped anything. Always was medical and veterinary quackery as is pinfiring.
Times have changed so I’m sure there are better treatments for injuries now.
Absolutely, There have been better ways to do things since the 1800’s matter of fact. Unfortunately many old practices die hard on the backside. Am truly hopeful that I’ll see the day come in my lifetime that stuff like this can be read about in history books and isn’t done anymore.:yes:
Trivia tidbit:Legend has it that Secretariat popped a splint and had it pinfired as a youngster.
Professional opinion: It was the layoff/stallrest/turnout/rehab component of the pinfiring/blistering that resulted in the improvement of most of these types of injuries, not the actual blistering/pinfiring.
Why not try shockwave?
Oh for crying out loud if you don’t have a recipe or answer keep your personal opinions about effectiveness and barbaric nature to yourself…I still buy alot of horses w/ pinfire marks and freeze marks on shins and splints. They are all still alive and well in new jobs…
Where as the ones with over injected joints…well
shockwave isn’t going to reduce the lump…
A sweat is not the same thing as a blister. If you choose to do a “strong blister”, go ahead and smear some on yourself while you are at it. That way you can truly understand the pain you are inflicting. I think there are other ways of handling it, including using a sweat that will not cause pain.
I agree. I don’t know pinfiring has ever helped, but it’s never harmed either of mine (the old one blew a tendon on the rear leg for his career-ender on the track, Lucky retired sound with no injuries after five years and 64 starts, both had their front legs pinfired, Benny never took a bad step on his front, Lucky, so far, so good.)
I don’t think blistering a scar is actually going to do much, though. If it’s cosmetic, I’m not sure I’d even do anything about it. What is the concern?
[QUOTE=ThisTooShallPass;5350498]
Why do people still blister? I would like to blister them! I have seen far too much MISUSE of blistering in my life! You blister, you have to put them on stall rest. Stall rest is what they needed to begin with. Blistering just made people actually give the horse stall rest.
Cripes, the OP wants a STRONG blister. Tell you what, why don’t you blister yourself, see how YOU like it. Make sure YOU have your own skin literally split apart, look at open flesh ooze, & eventually scab over. Test it out on your very own self, then I give you permission to blister the horse.
Listen to the vet responses on here, not likely to do this horse a bit of good.
End quote.
This is a bit reactionary and anthropomorphic. You are not a horse, your skin has no hair completely surrounding the skin surface (at least I hope not), and… well you are not a horse. Mild blisters were useful when the other modalities were not available. I have myself never used a mild blister and refused to paint them on when I was a groom. Very often grooms paint on the Dr. Hall’s leg tightening products cut with DMSO as a driver. I assume you have gotten a full complement from those who assume Biblical proportions of pain, it is not always so and did help, does help when done correctly and for the right problem. You can use a blister without it causing the breaking of skin but it is too much risk for me.
You can break up scar tissue with careful stretching of the leg if it involves the tendon and even some controlled exercise as warranted either under saddle or not. If it involves purely bone just turn the horse out and forget about babying the thing along. If it is a splint or a possible migrating broken fragment, you need to have a xray or ultrasound to see if it stands a chance of interferring with any tendon structures.
[QUOTE=Profidia;5351088]
Sure have. I was around decades ago. Yes they were used often but no they never helped anything. Always was medical and veterinary quackery as is pinfiring.
Absolutely, There have been better ways to do things since the 1800’s matter of fact. Unfortunately many old practices die hard on the backside. Am truly hopeful that I’ll see the day come in my lifetime that stuff like this can be read about in history books and isn’t done anymore.:yes:[/QUOTE]
I 110% agree. It isnt anything other than inhumane torture. I had posted about this outdated form of foolish therapy before on this site. Just rest the poor horse.
The idea behind blistering is to cause skin inflammation for the purpose of increasing blood flow to the injured tissues beneath. By creating this increased blood flow, it is believed by many to help speed up healing.
The problem with this theory though is that the blood vessels that supply the skin are not the same blood vessels that supply the deeper tissues.
So causing inflammation at the skin surface does not necessarily increase blood flow to the structures below. Therefore, applying a leg paint(ball solution, hardhills, etc) or stronger to the skin does very little to promote healing of a damaged tendon, ligament or joint capsule, etc.
Some paints may help somewhat with (splints, shins, curbs), which are in close proximity to the skin surface, but beyond that, I believe it is a waste of time and money.
When firing a horse, it is the period of enforced rest that is of most benefit. Rest alone should be as effective as any of these counterirritants without causing the animal more pain and suffering.
So with that said, you would never see me having a horse pin/freeze fired or using a strong blister of any type.
Oh, I’ve got plenty of recipes for blisters, sweats, liniments, and firing paint.
Just because a horse survives such “therapy” does not necessarily mean the horse has benefited from it.
So who keeps telling you a strong blister will help? And why isn’t that person supplying you with their own mixture and application method via prescription? This person is a vet, correct?
Not a vet? You don’t say.
You don’t plan on consulting a vet? You don’t say.
Good luck with that. I hope you have your own stash of antibiotics.
