The traditional treatment is steroid injections to the bursa, but I personally have had inflamed bursa in the same area of my own hip and steroids did nothing for me. I am curious how you all have resolved Whorlbone pain in your horses and if it went away easily or if it was hard to manage.
Just got a bone scan done. Fascinating results, including Whorlbone inflammation. How did you treat?
I didn’t know horses could get trochanteric (tro-cantering 
) bursitis. Steroids were not effective for my bursitis either but icing and specific stretches did help. Even 2 years later I still stretch twice a week because that area still is prone to getting tighter than the other normal side.
I’d still think a steroid shot would be worth a try for your horse. I know it is helpful for some humans
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Thanks Remarkable! Actually I had the same experience. One specific stretch did more for me than Steroids and Laser treatments. I wish I knew the magic stretch for my horse! Maybe a gentle experiment is worth a try.
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Steroid injection can be amazing for people bursitis if the issue is “just” inflammation of the bursa. So often greater troc bursitis is really a glute tendon problem, and in those cases, progress is tough unless you address the tendon stuff.
For your horse, a steroid injection is a cheap and easy thing to try, and very well may help a ton. I wouldn’t get wrapped around the axle about next steps if it doesn’t help until you get to that point.
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Lol good point
I am impatient to address all his stuff and follow up appointment is not until Monday so in the mean time I am just going to obsess about it!
Totally understand!
One thing I would consider would be getting a really GOOD body work type person to get hands on and assess.
Shockwave could also be worth discussing with vet as a down the road next step if more conservative therapies don’t do it. I have (people) doctor who had shown just fab results using it for glute tendon tears!
What is whorlbone?
In 50+ years of horses I have never come across the term. Is it an actual bone in the body, or a catch-all for a group of ailments?
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I usually see it as “whirlbone” and it’s more common/known/spoken about in harness racing.
There’s a write up here:
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Thank You!
That sounds like something I have!!! 
- my hips ache from the inside-out to the side, but my hindquarters are definitely NOT wasting away
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Approximately what does a bone scan run? I’d love to get one done for my guy to try to figure out what is really going on…
No joke, I’ve had extreme difficulty climbing stairs, walking, getting up from sitting for many months. This week, for the first time, I used Voltaren on my hips - just inside each hip bone in about a 5 inch stripe, morning and night, and within 12 hours there was NO pain. It’s been amazing. I’m moving pain free, walking, and the relief has been incredible.
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I’ll have to give it another try. Voltaren hasn’t usually done anything for me…
I’m also considering switching to a keto diet, so maybe a little less hindquarters on me 
would help
It is expensive - about $3000 but in my case it was so worth it. I wish I had done it years ago, because I have easily spent that much on treating the wrong areas over the years when we could have been helping my horse feel his best. They found a lot of interesting things, for example a very hot tooth, inflammation in his upper hock joint (usually it’s the lower hock joint that they inject. Also this is probably what triggered the whorlbone issue), and they were able to pinpoint where exactly his SI is inflamed. We also ruled out stuff. He has anatomically large neck facets and I was worried about arthritis, but his neck is totally fine!
He was due for a float this month, so we probably would have found the hot tooth. I think he has been trying to tell us by being unusually nippy. He is eating fine and doesn’t have weird breath.
I am trying to learn as much as I can from all this so I can better interpret the signals the horses try to give us to reveal what hurts. I wish I could afford to do this for every horse!
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I find you have to hit precisely the right spot with Voltaren, which can involve some painful and deep poking around, not necessarily exactly where you expect, to find the root. But when you do, and grit your teeth and massage it in (I know. They say not to,) it can be really helpful.
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For old broken bone pain, I love Salon Pas.and sometimes I use
Sore No More (arnica).
those are my usual go-tos as well!
Sore-no-more gel, specifically, and I picked up the Salonpas roll-on (just have to make sure I don’t mistake it for the underarm roll-on stuff 
)
Thank you! That information is helpful. I am also chasing a few things and think that a scan may be more diagnostic than xrays. I am going to ask next time I am at the clinic.
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