Keeping a cast clean while at the barn

[lintesia]

I had surgery about three weeks ago to repair a ligament that was torn from my thumb. After two weeks in a splint + bandage, those were removed and a cast was put on. It will stay on for a total of four weeks, so I have three more weeks to go.

The cast completely encompasses my right thumb and hand, and goes half-way up my forearm. My fingers are free, pretty much up to the knuckles.

I ride hunter/jumper and my plan has been to do lunge lessons to keep myself in riding shape, especially since I have several medal finals coming up in the fall. I have my first lunge lesson scheduled for tomorrow. Over the past years, I have had many lunge lessons on my horse, so I’m not worried about him. Also, he’s been ridden regularly the past week, so should be nice and calm.

I’m looking for ideas on how to keep my cast clean while I’m at the barn – grooming, tacking up, and riding. I especially need to ensure that dirt and debris doesn’t get under the cast. For my fingers, I can finagle (sp?) a medical exam glove over my hand which will prevent anything from getting under the cast on the hand side. However, I’m not sure what to do for the side where my fore arm comes out of. I’ve thought about just wrapping it with plastic wrap (saran), but would love to hear about other ideas.

Many thanks!

P.S. For showering, I use one of those long gloves that vets use and secure the open end with Saran. Maybe, I should just do the same for riding…?

[2tempe]

I’d go w/ the exam glove and saran wrap - easy, and available.

Some years ago I had a broken foot (thank you, horse) and a friend gave me a thing for showering that looked like a GIANT condom, closed at the toe and w/ a rubber ring at the top to keep water out… Suffice to say that I would not have been seen in public w/ that on!

Edited to add: for the forearm, you could also try vet wrap, but I’m guessing saran wrap is cheaper.

[Abbie.S]

Plastic wrap, nitrile gloves and duct tape, baby. It’s completely ghetto but it gets the job done.

[rustbreeches]

Yep, breeding sleeves, vet wrap, duct tape.

[Zu_Zu]

Glad Press "N Seal

[B]
GLAD `` Press 'n Seal !!!

for showering with stitches and casts :yes: too !

keeps dirt off and water out !

Just remember to fold back / double back the end :eek: for easy removal

• It’s really wonderful ‘stuff’ :lol:[/B]

[horsetales]

Vet wrap I think would be more comfy in summer than plastic wrap

[Zu_Zu]

Yes I agree but for the cast part Press 'n Seal would keep the cast itself clean/DRY

yes I agree but for the cast itself Press 'N Seal would keep that cast clean and DRY !

perhaps i did not read the OP carefully enough :eek::lol:

I would not rec plastic on any skin part in the summer :eek:

[QUOTE=horsetales;7637446]
Vet wrap I think would be more comfy in summer than plastic wrap[/QUOTE]

[Zuri]

Is your cast fiberglass?

[charismaryllis]

Washington post newspaper bags, doubled, with rubber bands in the shower; a plastic food bag with five holes punched into it as a sort of floppy glove, to get the fingers free but keep the palmar strap and hand part of the cast clean for other, non-wet but ooky activities.

Whatever you do, don’t overdo it. You don’t want to go back and have them say, “what have you been doing?! Now we have to operate again!”

[janedoe726]

When my mom broke her wrist, she wrapped her cast in Vet Wrap every time she went to the barn. Worked great!

[IPEsq]

I wouldn’t want to be sweating in a lunge lesson wearing plastic. Vet wrap sounds like a good idea. I’ve used it over bandages for various other cuts and finger blisters etc. to help keep them clean and protected at the barn.

[sorrelfilly721]

I had a similar cast and I cut a sleeve off a sweatshirt, sewed some elastic around one end and sewed the other end shut. I would pull it up over my cast and the cast stayed clean without making me sweat. Kind of like wearing a long mitten.

[goodhors]

I was going to suggest knee socks, with finger holes cut in the toe. Should be easy on and off, washable. Not hot and reusable.

If it cast gets TOO bad, you might just go back to the Dr., get another one put on, or this one covered with a new layer. The Fiberglass casting material should be able to be wiped down with a damp rag, gets some dirt off.

Powder down inside the cast is NOT recommended, can rub a hole in you inside the covering. Skin inside gets very tender, soft. Knitting needles work for the itches, will reach down inside to “hit the spot” as the bones heal. They are smooth, long, yet don’t tear up the inside wrapping layers. Having a LOT of experience with casted folk, the itching part is the worst when you can’t scratch it. Other things to itch inside the cast, are not recommended.

[lintesia]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I had to leave my house very early this morning, so didn’t have a chance to read some of the later ones, unfortunately.

What I ended up doing was using the long vet sleeve while I was grooming and tacking up. Then, I put one of the nitrile glove on as much of my hand as possible and put vet wrap over the end where my forearm is. I then put Glad Press and Seal over the cast itself, overlapping both the glove and the vet wrap.

This worked fine for my lesson (except that my trainer kept thinking I was giving her the finger because the fingers o f the glove kept drooping. At the same time, she was having me stretch my arms straight above my head, close my eyes, drop my stirrups AND post the canter, so who knows…!). Anyway, I kept that configuration on for the lesson and while I untacked, hosed my horse off, and put stuff away.

When I finally took everything off, I discovered that the padding under the cast was wet… in a really uncomfortable way. I’m not sure if somehow water saturated the vet wrap while I was hosing off my horse (I was extremely careful, though, and did all the hosing with my left hand), or if it was due to sweat (it’s very hot here (CA) and the lesson was brutal (I haven’t ridden for 3 weeks and am really out of shape)). Even now, over 6 hours since I left the barn, the padding still feels damp and really compressed.

So I’m thinking that for tomorrow, I’ll rig a sock over my fingers and just cover the rest with vet wrap. I’ll use the long vet sleeve for grooming and hosing.

[js]

Why not use a knee high tube sock? Cut openings in the toe section for your fingers, get cotton so they will circulate air better.

[2ndyrgal]

You need a new cast put on

because it is Not Going to Dry and all sorts of yucky things can happen… really.

So be a good girl, call the ortho doc, tell him you were a Very Bad Girl, get your cast replaced and don’t try to ride with it. You’ll overuse it and it will never be quite right.

I showed and foxhunted with a cast on my left arm (cut the first one off at home because it got wet). It did not heal correctly, and there are things that still cause pain because I was an impatient ass.

Stay home and do your elliptical machine or ride a stationary bike, and let it heal properly. If you don’t do this for a living then just do what you are supposed to do. If the surgeon had wanted you to ride, he’d have not put you in a cast.

[charismaryllis]

second the new cast. i went through three, myself. :uhoh:

[IPEsq]

My guess would be that you got really sweaty under there because of the plastic more so than the hosing.

Maybe you should look into whether there is anyone trained to give you an Exos cast or similar. The advantages: You can punch air holes into the material to help with breathability. It’s not lined with the cottony stuff a regular cast is. You can get it wet. I had something similar made for my thumb (had a ligament injury but no surgery required–mine was not fancy like these just orthopedic white with velcro straps I could take off to wash). Extra bonus: if you or your insurance wants to shell out the $$ you can get ones molded in different positions. The one I had was set up so that I could type at my job all day, I could tack up and ride horses in it, but I couldn’t ride my bike with it, which would have required molding in a different hand position. It’s still quite rigid so long as you don’t run it under very hot water or something, so it can provide complete immobilization unlike a soft splint/brace.

http://www.boatechnology.com/products/bracing

[kookicat]

I’d use tubigrip over it. You can cut it longer so it seals the top and bottom.

[Drive_NJ]

Just remember, if you are doing exercises using your arms for balance, the weight of the cast will change things a bit. This could come back to bite you when the cast comes off.

We had an acquaintance who learned to do some spins in dancing with a cast on. Had to then unlearn the cast balance and relearn all over again when the cast came off.