SI injections

[dungrulla]

My horse is going to be moved in a month or so to a place with extensive pasture. During this time he will not be ridden nor will he have to do hard work–he will just be a horse.

I have a strong suspicion he may have an SI issue. The vet has told me this is not the case, but he stands under himself and when I curry over his butt he dances around and/or shrinks his butt down. I may be getting a second opinion after the move.

My question is twofold:

1. Does it make sense to just inject his SI with some cortisone to see if he feels better afterwards? Sort of ‘treat and see if it goes away’. I have the money.

2. Does it make sense to do this before the pasture? He doesn’t seem uncomfortable or in pain unless he’s under saddle. I know injections can be traumatic, and he also has a way-back history of ulcers, which I know cortisone can aggravate.

Just looking at what the best options for this guy are. If no improvement is shown he will be permanently retired from riding. He is also having a lyme titer–if it’s positive, he’ll be treated, then retired. He’s basically got it easy right now, but I don’t want him to be in pain.

[Hermein]

I’m not a fan of cortisone. If you haven’t already tried it, could you get a series of adequan injections for him before you try the big C?

[Hermein]

I’m not a fan of cortisone. If you haven’t already tried it, could you get a series of adequan injections for him before you try the big C? (I’m assuming that you’ve tried chiropractic on him, and maybe massage & acupuncture.)

Regardless, I hope you find a solution for him.

[dungrulla]

He’s had massage, no accupuncture (not a big believer in the big alts myself) and he has seen a chiro.

I could definitely ask about adequan as opposed to cortisone. My question is if it would be worth it as a ‘if it looks like a duck’ type of treatment.

[IPEsq]

SI area pain or dysfunction is usually soft tissue. Generally Sarapin is injected – it’s an analgesic for muscular or neuropathic pain. Depending on the specific issue, you could also try shockwave. If it’s not an issue related to articular cartilage, then I would not spend the money on Adequan.

[candyappy]

Some horses are pretty thin skinned and don’t like aggressive brushing over certain areas, where you mention is one of them. What are you brushing him with and how hard? In fact some horses like only a very soft brush anywhere on their body.

Sounds like he is trying to avoid being brushed there. Saddle fit is probably the reason he is showing pain under saddle too.

I wouldn’t experiment with random treatments . find out exactly what the problem is first ( if possible).

[dungrulla]

He had a saddle fitter out, which helped a little but not a whole bunch–his saddle is now a perfect fit for his back, we had him look at a few and I will be selling the outliers.

He dislikes having right over where his hunters bump is curried even lightly. He is generally okay with having it soft brushed. If I roll a tennis ball over it to foam roll, he seems to tolerate/maybe even like this. If I press into it hard with a finger he doesn’t care–but if I actively tickle there, he dances.

For pain under saddle, he bucks. He had improved to the point of 10 foot circles with no antics, then came up lame on a front ankle so he’s been out of work for a bit.

[One_Two_Three]

“hunters bumps”, aside from some horses with that conformation, typically indicate something amiss back there. I would have a BODY WORKER/Chiro out. Not the one already out. Someone else. My chrio was all about skeletal manipulation but said my old mare’s back end was fine. It wasn’t. When my bodyworker/natropath/who is also equine chiro certified took a look, both her hips and her SI were out. There is an almost immediate difference in her look when the SI is placed back in. Her “hunters bump” completely disappears. When she started getting wonky again, and that bump started to emerge, I knew she needed an adjustment. There’s a lot of muscle memory back there, and I’d be weary of anyone doing ONE session and not having subsequent sessions to realign and redo their work multiple times to see it set permanently.

I wouldn’t fuss around with injections, especially if your vet doesn’t think it’s a good idea.

and I wouldn’t knock acupuncture until you’ve tried it a few times. I have seen it work VERY well, almost immediately both on this mare, and another horse in the barn with severe heaves. The drainage just started pouring out of his nose once she had placed all the needles, and the relief in the horse’s eyes was amazing.

[candyappy]

[QUOTE=dungrulla;8121582]
He had a saddle fitter out, which helped a little but not a whole bunch–his saddle is now a perfect fit for his back, we had him look at a few and I will be selling the outliers.

He dislikes having right over where his hunters bump is curried even lightly. He is generally okay with having it soft brushed. If I roll a tennis ball over it to foam roll, he seems to tolerate/maybe even like this. If I press into it hard with a finger he doesn’t care–but if I actively tickle there, he dances.

For pain under saddle, he bucks. He had improved to the point of 10 foot circles with no antics, then came up lame on a front ankle so he’s been out of work for a bit.[/QUOTE]

Can you post a picture of him? Is he bony along his back?

I have never seen my mare’s backbone ( it is there). I can scrub on her with all my might and she loves it. My daughters horse has a normal backbone that you can actually feel. If I do that to her she moves all over== I DON’T LIKE THAT.

[dungrulla]

Yeah, he’s definitely bony on the back from a combination of lack of conditioning/needs some weight/that’s just the way he is.

He needs to put some weight on–it’s been a fairly hard winter and the vet is actually there now I believe (or at least was on the way when I called him to add on a fecal) to check for worms/maybe he needs to be treated for ulcers now, though the vet also didn’t suspect those last he was out. He’s had his grain upped a fair bit (I just asked the BM) to get some weight on–he’s probably a 4 on the body weight scale (can see some rib outlines, would love a bit more bulk on that neck/withers/tailhead) and I don’t like it. He also gets alfalfa cubes and oil, and I’ve been taking him out as often as I can to graze on that nice high-calorie spring grass (though he will be moving to a pasture full).

Even when he’s got weight on he tends to be bony on his back though. His topline is wonky as hell.

[IPEsq]

My horse has a different issue–I can curry his lumbar and SI area and croup all day long but not soft brush without him getting pissy. We have not yet done injections or shockwave there yet but are starting out with acupuncture and chiro at ~1 mo intervals.

[merrygoround]

First of all you need veterinarian to do the injections. It is not a DIY thing. Second of all a veterinarian who would causally do injections on just that information would be very suspect in my mind.

Candyappy made some very sensible comments.

[dungrulla]

[QUOTE=merrygoround;8121666]
First of all you need veterinarian to do the injections.[/QUOTE]

Oh, heavens, I would never try this myself! I was under the impression that an SI injection often involved an ultrasound machine. I am NOT qualified for something like that!

[riopony]

Take a look at this article (it’s a free membership if it asks you to sign up). My horse was diagnosed with SI inflammation via nuclear scan, palpating and exam at a clinic. He also has several of these indicators. On a side note he loves to be curried in that area… He does hate the soft brush oh his neck so maybe he is just a weirdo.

I have read and maybe commented on another post of yours-- where he was being dangerous or something along those lines. My house used to be a complete a**. He didn’t want to be touched most days and some days could be quite dangerous. We injected the SI and it was like all the pain and anxiety melted away so he is a completely different horse now. He isn’t rideable now because of a suspensory injury that occurred 6 weeks into his SI rehab work but it did wonders for us. Get it diagnosed and then try if the vet believes in it.

http://www.thehorse.com/articles/35554/six-signs-of-sacroiliac-disease-in-horses

[dungrulla]

Oh no, he’s only dangerous under saddle. He does however love to see what new people will allow him to get away with.