# Healing pressure sores on legs?



## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Soooo my gelding just went through a week-long saga with a fever, then partial obstruction colic...it's been a nightmare!

There were a few days where basically all he was doing was laying down quietly. Last Saturday/Sunday, he was probably on his feet for a handful of hours - pretty much only when he was being handwalked and every then he was trying to go down wherever he could.

Anyway, now his right hock has a small pressure sore, his right elbow is a weepy-nasty mess, and his left elbow feels like the skin is thinking about popping off.

I have never dealt with this sort of thing in my life, never had a horse get this sick either! haha

Bottomline: if anyone has dealt with this before and has any tips or tricks, I am allll ears. He's pretty ok with me messing with the sores, but I'd like to help them heal up as quickly as possible.

He does lay down at night and he's always had "crunchy" elbows so I have a feeling his elbows might be rough to heal.

Any ideas are appreciated!


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## ApuetsoT (Aug 22, 2014)

Not to your extent, but my wb would get sores from lying down in his stall at night. Not enough bedding over the wooden floors. I put duct tape over the sores. Prevented them from getting worse and kept them covered when he went outside. 
I tried wrapping, spider bandages, tube socks. Duct tape was the only thing that stayed on. 
I got hock boots shortly after.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

I read about duct tape! I wasn't sure about using it with my guy because his sores are open and weepy. Would the duct tape work in that scenario, you think?
I'll probably try the duct tape after he heals though! He's always had sort of crusty elbows and it would delightful to get rid of those things!

Poor guy, he was doing ok this morning, but is SO lame right now from the worst sore in his right elbow. I put some thick skin care ointment on it this morning and I think I managed to moisturize it into having another chunk of skin come off  I just sewed a wrap for it that I'm going to use to, hopefully, soak that remaining bit of skin off and, hopefully, reduce some of his pain. The portion of that sore that "revealed" itself last night seems to be feeling quite a bit better today, it seems like the skin-sloughing portion of this is the most painful. 
He can barely rest his hoof on the ground without the skin pulling and making him yank that hoof up.  

His other elbow feels like it *might* decide to slough its skin, but it hasn't committed yet. His hock sore is looking no where near as bad as his elbows. 

Poor guy!


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

I would put Wonder Dust on the wounds and provide him with thick bedding. Once your at dry skin instead of oozing sore then I'd switch to something that's going to keep his skin soft for easier hair growth. Plain Vaseline would do the job for that. Worked for my mare when she started spending too much time lying down because of her arthritic knee.

That being said, my friend who is paraplegic sometimes gets pressure sores on her tailbone and the only thing her doctor recommends is for her to soak her butt in a vinegar bath. Something about it will change the PH level of her skin and help it heal. I do not know if humans and horses have anything close to the same PH levels.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Yup, you need to dry them out as a first step. The vets I know recommend silver spray.

Unless really bad (how bad is that elbow?) That's all you need to do.

You can buy a hock boot if you need too but his hock doesn't sound too bad. I find the elbows odd though, I can't say I've ever known a horse with elbow rubs or even thinking about getting elbow rubs, does he lie down a lot in general?

Re duct tape the idea has always felt very odd to me, but I did try it on a very minor hock sore (more of a hair rub really I wouldn't do that on an open wound) at the BOs insistence, I wasn't overly impressed.

Poor Fabio, hope he's feeling better soon! I had no idea that was going on


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Thanks guys! 
After all we've been through in the last week I just want him to feel well...but he so clearly does not 

As for how bad the bad elbow is - I pulled a 1in by 2in piece of dead skin off it on Wednesday, leaving a spot of raw skin. Then, yesterday, I started putting ointment on it and the portion of skin above the raw part started getting that thick feeling too. So far the top thick skin portion is still well-attached to him, but who knows what it's gonna do.
He's working so hard to not use that leg - it's all stocked up  

As for why the elbows, I think it's due to his muscle disorder/how he lays down. When he lays down, he goes to his knees, tucks a hind leg under himself, then leans over and basically falls the rest of the way. The elbow that hits the ground first gets major scraping pressure put on it as he "falls" 


I don't have Wonder Dust, but I do have BluKote - is that kind of the same thing??


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

No, not the same. I like BluKote for bug bites and minor scrapes but have never used it on a bad wound so I can't say how good of job it does on them. I don't think it'd hurt to try it though.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

You can try Underwoods for healing (you have to get it online.

I suggest over bedding until he heals and feels better.


Sorry its been a rough week


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I've never heard of using duct tape to cover a developing wound. that sounds counter intuitive.

Wallaby, can yo post a a photo of the sores?


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

I thought the same thing, Caroline! That's why I haven't just tried the duct tape. Maybe for when the sores are more healed though!

It turns out that it was coronavirus so now the entire barn is in quarantine, it's a hotttt mess.  

Anyway, I attached a picture of the worst sore, the day I peeled its layer of skin off. It didn't seem to be too painful then, but it was hurting a lot by the next day. I'll try to get a better picture tomorrow.

I've palpated his entire leg and this sore is the only thing that he reacts to. It's directly over his elbow joint when he moves, so the pain level makes sense, I think? Bone moving under a bunch of raw, scabby, nerves - yikes!

He is INCREDIBLY lame: 







His poor leg looks like a tree trunk. I've been cold hosing it and trying to get him moving as much as possible, but it's hard when he's pretty much holding it up in his stall! And he can't be turned out due to his infectiousness...


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

That looks like a capped elbow. They get it from lying down with their feet curled under and the hoof is pressed against it. It's filled with fluid in the early stages and can be drained. It often forms scar tissue if the fluid builds up several times. You can look for a shoe boil boot at your tack store or I know Valley Vet carries them.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

corona virus caused that sore and swollen leg? I will need to check that virus information out . There was an area in Penn Valley near Sacramento that had an outbreak. I thought it gave the horses a fever and the runs. 
I would never put duct tape on a wound. You can use duct tape to help keep a hoof wrap on, but never touch skin or hair with it. 
An old fashioned but effective wound cleaner is scarlet oil. It probably stings , but the stuff works.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Wallaby said:


> Thanks guys!
> After all we've been through in the last week I just want him to feel well...but he so clearly does not
> 
> As for how bad the bad elbow is - I pulled a 1in by 2in piece of dead skin off it on Wednesday, leaving a spot of raw skin. Then, yesterday, I started putting ointment on it and the portion of skin above the raw part started getting that thick feeling too. So far the top thick skin portion is still well-attached to him, but who knows what it's gonna do.
> ...


Per the vets do NOT put ointment on it. Yes that is typically the type of wound you would put ointment on lol, but it needs to be dry. I don't use Wonder Dust often at all. The barn I was at that we had a TON of hock rubs going on (for whatever reason lol it was weird) used a TON of https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/alushield-aerosol-bandage-10749 and that's what the vet said to use (liberally as needed). BluKote should help dry it out at least, but the Alushield is more of a "liquid bandaid" type stuff (it's what they spray on stitches these days).

The elbow sounds painful but I was picturing something deep and ***** all opened up (yuck), glad that is not the case! I second what @JCnGrace said about the elbow.


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## ApuetsoT (Aug 22, 2014)

The sores I used the ductape on were about the size of a toonie, over bone, with no discharge. 
Seeing your picture, that is not a candidate.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

I think you guys are right that it's a shoe boil/capped elbow [no shoes on this horse though! Just hooves the size of dinner plates. haha]. Google told me that they often display as "slightly scabby skin" when it's chronic, but hasn't been "triggered." That fits with how his elbows have always been crusty on both sides and nothing I've ever done has made any kind of difference.

Is how lame he is a reason for concern?? I did a little Googling and everything I saw said that "lameness can occur" but never really gave a definitive yes/no to seeing a vet thing. I don't want to leave it too long and have him get an infection or something, that's the LAST thing we need!! But, also, he's seen a vet 5 times in the last week and my wallet is notttt loving it so I don't really want to have a "oh yeah, he's fine" vet call... haha

I'll see if I can locate some shoe boil rings locally. Fingers crossed!!
His hooves are ginormously long right now - he was supposed to be trimmed on Thursday but we weren't sure if he would be able to tolerate standing on 3 legs for the time necessary, so we postponed until Monday. He was trimmed 4 weeks ago, but he grows hoof like a maniac!
Now, of course, the whole barn is under quarantine so it remains to be seen if the trimmer will even be allowed in on Monday! Ughhhh.

@*stevenson* - the capped elbow/shoe boil/sore wasn't caused directly by coronavirus. Coronavirus does have a neurological component [can make them unable to stand easily/well] and Fabio was hit hard by that portion of the disease. So, since he was having a hard time standing, he spent hours laying down over the course of two days and ended up doing damage to his elbows - causing the lameness and sores.
Coronavirus can give horses fever and the runs, but it also can cause ataxia [inability to stand], depression, and colic symptoms. Fabio didn't really get the runs [2-3 runny poops], but he did get the fever, ataxia, depression, and colic symptoms. Given how bad off he was for a few days and given what the virus can do when horses get that sick from it, I'd say I'm kind of lucky that he's alive!!


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

I think you'd be ok to wait over the weekend and if he doesn't improve by Monday then call the vet. Could be he's stove up from spending so much time lying down. Since he's under quarantine it will be hard but if he could get some gentle exercise, cold hosing his legs, or at the very least try to get him to do some stretches in his stall. After the cold hosing make up a bucket of diluted liniment and sponge his legs down.

Good luck Wallaby, and I hope Fabio can get back to his normal self soon.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

his feet are not hot, are they? I mean, with this illness, it's not possible he's having a laminitic episode?


just an observation here, but where I ride out of, there are only a few stalled horses. most of the horses run out 24/7. I impressed at all the health issues described in the pages of this forum that our herd NEVER has, and I think it must be because they run free all day long.

now, I'm not dissing anyone who stall keeps. I know it's not abuse, and I realize that you do what you can for your horse. just that we just don't ever deal with any of these things, and all I can figure is that it's because the horses don't stand in a box for 12 hours a day.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Thanks JCnGrace!  I appreciate the tips and well wishes 

Good question, Caroline! The only thing that's unusually warm about the leg he's lame on is his actual leg, where it's swollen from disuse. His hooves feel normal temperature, thank goodness! I'm palpated and pressed on his entire leg, hoof included, and the elbow is the only place he responds/tries to pull away. I'm seriously hoping it's nothing more than the elbow.

I hear you about the lameness and whatnot, kind of on the flip side though - Fabio was consistently "off" when he lived out 24/7. He only became truly sound once he began living the "cush" life. Now, of course, all heck is breaking loose and he's falling apart...but he was great before this! :|
Before Fabs though, the really healthy horses I knew where ones that lived outside 24/7 and the "sickly" horses were the ones that lived inside. I suppose that's still pretty true, and it makes sense since horses were made to live inside.
I have no idea what Fabio's early life consisted of, maybe he was stalled quite a bit - who knows. And, in his defense, he is a combination of two breeds that humans have created over years and years and years. He's not necessarily been bred to live outside and manage well. In a perfect world, every horse would be bred with the idea that they would be able to tolerate the most natural lifestyle possible...but I kind of doubt any one did that with Fabio.


Anywayyyyyy, according to Google, the scabbiness Fabio has always had on his elbows is an indicator of "chronic bursitis" [capped elbows] and he's had that for as long as I've known him [nearly 4 years]. The scabbiness was actually worse when he was living outside 24/7. Basically it just indicates that this has been an on-going issue that I did not have the knowledge to recognize. 

In theory, his consistent barefootness should have helped, but apparently he always has to be the exception to the rule.

___________

On the shoe boil boot "front," I went to alllll the tack stores in town and no one had ever heard of, or had ever seen, something like a shoe boil boot - even after I showed them a googled image.  
So I bought oversized fabric bell boots in the store and ordered actual shoe boil boots off Amazon. Google said that oversized bell boots might help, and we're gonna have to wait until Tuesday for the real ones to arrive, so we might as well try some stuff!


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

After being that sick including lying down with a fever I'd be surprised if he wasn't lame. Plus knowing he is unsound to begin with I'd be even more surprised if his body wasn't acting up. I don't know anything about that illness (knock on wood!) but it doesn't even matter with all the symptoms he showed, they would be enough to cause something like that.

I seriously want to tuck him into bed and make him chicken noodle soup. 

Anyways, as it is with the barn in quarantine I'm sure the vets out regularly anyways. I would ask if they could give him a quick glance (for free) and determine if it's something that needs an actual exam or not. I'm thinking no, at least at this point.

Heck I remember one time I was sick when the day BEFORE I was so stiff getting out of the car I was limping, and I wasn't even that sick. I think it's to be expected.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

You're probably right, Yogi. Thanks, somehow that makes me feel better  

I want to tuck him into bed too! It's KILLING me to not be able to really bed his stall up like I want. But, since he's still shedding the virus [for 14-21 days after his last day of fever], I'm not allowed to do his stall/add more bedding myself.  It's so hard to go home knowing he has poop and pee in his stall, and only an inch or so of shavings, and I can't do a thing about it. UGH. 
I tried to explain to the BO about how he needs more shavings and she didn't really get it - started telling me about how he'll be fine because there are rubber mats under the shavings..

In extra awful news, today he is lame on all three of his legs that have sores. Both fronts [more lame on the right leg, but definitely lame on the left], AND pretty lame on his back left. His limp is quite a bit less, but I'm pretttty sure that's because you need a sound leg to be able to limp!
On the plus side, I suppose that this confirms that it is the sores making him lame...but I just want him to feel better! Mentally he's raring to go, but physically he is not wanting to budge. I suppose, in one sense, this is a sort of good thing because he does have to stay cooped up in his stall due to the virus - better to have him cooped up and not feeling like moving vs cooped up and feeling like running everywhere... :/


Hopefully the bell boots will help!


Here's the sores today:

Right front [the one I attached the picture of]



Left front



I didn't get a picture of the hock. It's still pretty covered in hair so it's hard to get a picture of the actual sore.


I did notice that he has a hard scab forming on the front of his right fetlock. Hopefully that doesn't mean something MORE is coming our way! The last thing we need is more trouble.


I'm kind of wondering about clipping the hair around the sores. On one hand, the hair is potentially additional protection..but it's also a potential vector for bacteria and so forth. I obviously wouldn't shave him down to the skin in those areas, but I could at least get the chunky long hairs out the way...


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Also, hilariously, I read that for the bell boot solution to have any hope of helping at all, the bell boots needed to be a size too big. I got XL-sized boots and they are actually a perfect fit. :rofl: :rofl:

They might be the tiniest bit big, but not by much.
Hopefully they help anyway!!!

I've never thought of his hooves/leg joints as being particularly large compared to the "average," but I guess they are! hahaha


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

I doubt he's THAT lame due to only the sores, I think it's just the icing on the cake but make sure the elbows are superficial and not getting rubbed underneath the skin and forming something you'll need to drain.

I don't really understand the bedding thing, you'll have to strip his stall anyways right? That must be frustrating.

I'd probably clip it myself, but I'd probably also try to wrap it a little to pad. May not work but if he's just standing around anyways it might. Depends on how bad it is.

Lol @ the bell boots, I can't believe his feet are that big!! Maybe you can just bubble wrap him while he's not moving much? I am somewhat serious too.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

I agree with Yogi that the lameness is probably not due to the sores. 

Don't fret them not letting you use extra bedding, while it would help the sores on the hocks it won't help a bit with the capped elbows. It's even iffy if it would help the hocks because their feet tend to shove all the bedding away during the getting up process and that's when I think they occur. My old guy used to get a capped elbow and he didn't have shoes on either. He hated wearing the shoe boil boot but it was the only thing that really allowed the elbow to heal and I only made him wear it during the healing up. Not sure that bell boots will provide enough padding.

Here's a link to a picture of one.

https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=9390c725-60fa-44d0-a68f-d4c9612071ca&gas=shoe%20boil%20boot


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

The bedding thing [I didn't explain it well] is because it's a full care barn and they are trying to limit where the manure wheelbarrows/stall cleaning stuff go and limit who has contact with the "uninfected" shavings, etc. So the stall cleaners are the only ones allowed to do that stuff, right now. 
I like to clean his stall when I arrive [so it gets cleaned twice in a day, I go to the barn in the evening and the stall cleaners clean in the morning], but I can't right now. I've gotten used to doing it every night so it feels really weird ignoring poop! haha

I'll give clipping around the sores a try tomorrow. Certainly won't hurt! At the very least it should increase air flow and probably help keep the areas cleaner. He might not let me do it, but he might be ok! We'll see.

And I know, about the bell boots! I almost got Larges, then I looked at them and remembered that I always size him too small and that I was shooting for something that was a little too big - thank goodness I went back to the XLs! Larges would not have done the job, at all.

Looking cute with his bell boots:




He's part Lipizzan and Lips tend to have a lot of bone, so I guess I shouldn't be that surprised...but he's half-Arab too!! haha


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Arabs have decent feet, I just can't believe they are THAT big lol.

He looks adorable. Those look like they will do the trick, hopefully! You can probably adjust them to be a little looser as well.

He sure looks perky, I'll take that as a good sign


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

I did some reading on the coronavirus. Depending on the article you read, it can cause swellings . One article says no one article says yes. It can be a very serious disease. One article says diarrhea the next one says no. All say a pretty high fever , so you need to make sure the horse stays hydrated. I read two articles that briefly stated swellings. Hope he is well soon. Hope the bell boots help some .


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

I went to the barn with the intention of walking him around, but he was massively full of beans. Back when he was "in training" to become a therapy horse, he learned to nip at shoulders when he gets bored and wants to be doing his own thing. He'll be perfectly behaved otherwise, but he'll nip-nip-nip at your shoulders. The more you react, the more he does it.

Anyway, today he was escalating to biting - I don't blame him, his stall is totally boring and walking around the arena is even more boring. Nothing good was going to come out of me fighting with him, so I decided to let him run around because he clearly needed to. I stayed to watch so I could disinfect anything he touched.

He was feeling sassy yesterday too, but he was wayyyy too lame to do anything about it.
Today though! He didn't appear lame at a walk at all and had just a bit of a head bob at the trot. He had a TON of energy to let out so I was really glad I let him run around. He rarely ever runs around, so any kind of "faster than a walk" behavior from him is something to note! haha

I can't believe that just some bell boots make such a crazy difference, but they must have! Nothing else changed and he was lame as all get-out yesterday!
Very glad they helped, I hope this means the swelling is going to clear up out of his leg asap!

[he was mad mad MAD that all his friends were getting turned out outside and he had to stay in - poor guy!]


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