# Proud Flesh?? Warning -Graphic Photos.



## TwistedWire

Do you have grocery stores that sell pickling lime? It's usually in where they sell canning jars, etc.

A key ingredient to products like wonder dust is pickling lime  (NOT BARN or AG LIME).

When I have wounds like that, I spray Schreiner's herbal Solution on it and then sprinkle pickling lime. You'd be surprised how they heal


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## Allison Finch

I swear by the ole *Wonder Dust*. It is great at dissolving granulated flesh.


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## TwistedWire

Goosey said Wonder Dust isn't available there.


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## gigem88

I hear that Underwood's Horse Medicine works on proud flesh. It works on everything else I've tried it on!


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## Allison Finch

TwistedWire said:


> Goosey said Wonder Dust isn't available there.


Sorry, I missed that. Try this product. It is available in Australia.

Proud Flesh - EQUAIDE


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## MHFoundation Quarters

I second Underwoods. It may be tough to get though. I can't find it at any walk in store remotely close to me, I have to order it. It's some fabulous stuff!


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## sarahver

I can heartily recommend Ranvet's Yellow Lotion and I have also used Manuka Honey very successfully. Watch out that the Manuka honey has a UMF factor of above 20, it's about three times the price of the normal stuff but is much more potent.

Yellow Lotion:
http://www.ranvet.com.au/files/products/equine/Yellow_Lotion.pdf


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## Cherie

First of all -- Do not wash or get any water on this wound. After the initial cleaning at the time of the injury, water only causes proud flesh. 

The active ingredient in almost all proud flesh medications is Copper Sulfate. It is 'caustic' and literall 'eats up'e proud flesh so you put it on when the proud flesh extends beyond the skin surface and leave it alone or put a creme like lanolin or Bag Balm when the proud flesh is not protruding. You will usually alternate it every other day until the wound disappears. 

Underwoods also has Copper Sulfate in it. It is why it does not promote the growth of proud flesh.

There is another caustic that I am sure you can get anywhere. It is a 'Silver Nitrate Stick'. Silver Nitrite is a caustic used by both MDs and Vets and should be available anywhere in the world. It is cheap and it will eat out the proud flesh quite easily. 

You can also check the on-line Vet product catalogs for places like Valley Vet. They do ship International. The lady that handles international orders is going to call me back later today. I use a product they sell called 
prouds off'. It is just a concentrated Copper Sulfate salve in a small jar. It is VERY effective. 

Your quickest and cheapest solution, though, would be to get Silver Nitrate sticks from a pharmacy, Vet or Dr. 

Hope this helps. And, in the future, don't wash a cut or wound after the first day and the initial cleaning. It will heal more quickly and will avoid most of the proud flesh problems.


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## Goosey

Cherie said:


> First of all -- Do not wash or get any water on this wound. After the initial cleaning at the time of the injury, water only causes proud flesh.


Okay so no washing it with the betadine solution anymore? Just keep spraying it and let it get scabby?
And some cream for when it isnt protruding anymore. Lanolin, got it. 

I think I will try and order some Wonder Dust, just to have handy if there is a next time. Every time i research this I end up with Wonder Dust 

Anyone else second on stop scrubbing the scabby bits off?


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## TwistedWire

As for scrubbing, it's a catch 22.

Honestly, I'll scrub-sometimes there is more "yuck" growing underneath the scab, and I like to peel that off so I can get my stuff on it.

I wish I'd have taken pictures of Boston's legs this summer...she tangled with my hot wire and turned a leg to a nice chunk of fleshy snaggly tissue...I wrapped it for a few days (vet would have probably stitched it) and then sprayed with Schreiner's and puffed on my lime. Today, there are just small lines that are scars-and while it was healing-Boston's legs looked very much like this gelding's, with the puffy pink tissue growing.


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## Goosey

The main place it does get scabby is around the edges, so would it be better off letting it kinda 'close up' and scab? 
Ill really have to look into this lime stuff


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## COWCHICK77

Cherie said:


> First of all -- Do not wash or get any water on this wound. After the initial cleaning at the time of the injury, water only causes proud flesh.
> 
> The active ingredient in almost all proud flesh medications is Copper Sulfate. It is 'caustic' and literall 'eats up'e proud flesh so you put it on when the proud flesh extends beyond the skin surface and leave it alone or put a creme like lanolin or Bag Balm when the proud flesh is not protruding. You will usually alternate it every other day until the wound disappears.
> 
> Underwoods also has Copper Sulfate in it. It is why it does not promote the growth of proud flesh.
> 
> There is another caustic that I am sure you can get anywhere. It is a 'Silver Nitrate Stick'. Silver Nitrite is a caustic used by both MDs and Vets and should be available anywhere in the world. It is cheap and it will eat out the proud flesh quite easily.
> 
> You can also check the on-line Vet product catalogs for places like Valley Vet. They do ship International. The lady that handles international orders is going to call me back later today. I use a product they sell called
> prouds off'. It is just a concentrated Copper Sulfate salve in a small jar. It is VERY effective.
> 
> Your quickest and cheapest solution, though, would be to get Silver Nitrate sticks from a pharmacy, Vet or Dr.
> 
> Hope this helps. And, in the future, don't wash a cut or wound after the first day and the initial cleaning. It will heal more quickly and will avoid most of the proud flesh problems.


You are right on the money here! When my colt was ran through several barbwire fences and severed the muscles above the knee to the bone, it was a very long process of healing. The vet had to stitch the muscles back together. I was sent back to a cow camp that had no electricity and no good facilities to heal a wounded horse plus working extremely long hours. I slacked on doctoring unfortunately. I had to take him again to cut the proud flesh out so the muscle could grow back together...anyhow moral is be aggressive in applying medication! The copper sulfate is the key and the vet also gave me "Silver Sulfadiazine". It's about $50 for a jar though. It worked better than anything I have tried before. And whatever you do don't use Granulex on proud flesh. Some people are tempted to use it because it eats nacrotic tissue.


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## smrobs

I agree with Cherie. So many people run into the problem of proud flesh because they are so concerned about keeping the wound "clean" that they over wash it and keep it as an open wound. As a result, the body keeps trying to cover the open wound with cells (scab) and every time you wash it, it irritates the wound and the body sends more cells which results in proud flesh. I am a minimalist when it comes to wounds on my horses, I'll rinse it off right after the injury just to remove all the debris/dirt so that I can get a good look at it. After that, unless I feel that it needs more care, I usually just let it alone to heal up on it's own and just keep an eye on it for signs of infection. Of all the horses that I've had get cut over the years, they all healed up quickly with very little scarring and I've never had a single problem with proud flesh.


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## Goosey

The weird thing is that I wasnt washing it in the first picture. I was wrapping it and applying some ointment on it to keep infection out. Only when it started getting wider I started washing it and bought the Debrisol. I dont know why it just wasnt getting better. Ill try not washing it and see how it goes.


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## COWCHICK77

smrobs said:


> I agree with Cherie. So many people run into the problem of proud flesh because they are so concerned about keeping the wound "clean" that they over wash it and keep it as an open wound. As a result, the body keeps trying to cover the open wound with cells (scab) and every time you wash it, it irritates the wound and the body sends more cells which results in proud flesh. I am a minimalist when it comes to wounds on my horses, I'll rinse it off right after the injury just to remove all the debris/dirt so that I can get a good look at it. After that, unless I feel that it needs more care, I usually just let it alone to heal up on it's own and just keep an eye on it for signs of infection. Of all the horses that I've had get cut over the years, they all healed up quickly with very little scarring and I've never had a single problem with proud flesh.


I agree -on a wound as superficial as the one pictured, just turning him out and keeping an eye on it may be best. On a more severe wound I would be aggressive on doctoring. I have a horse right now that stuck his foot through the wire and cut one of the large veins in the back of the foot above the heel bulb...it was squirting blood everywhere. I bandaged for a few days to get it healed past that vein and left it alone. He has a small scar and minimal proud flesh. I may depend on how picky you are about scars, lumps and bumps  Scars give character...tee he


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## fresh paint girl

I would recomend Vetricin. That stuff works wonders on just about any cut, gash, gapping wound you can think of. A horse one of my friend's owned saved her horse who had cut a hole through the center of the inner part of her hind leg all the way to the tendon. She also scrapped every bit of tissue off over her knee and exposed bone. That stuff was sprayed on continuously and all of it healed without even a scar.


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## Goosey

Cowchick, I wouldnt be devastated if it scarred. He is from the track, so had a few scrapes and the like from there as well. Sometimes I feel like wrapping him in bubble wrap cause he doesnt have much sense in the paddock lol! Ill take some more photos of it when its scabby too


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## smrobs

LOL, funny thing about horses is that you can wrap them in bubble wrap and house them in a rubber room and they would still find a way to hurt themselves.


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## fresh paint girl

smrobs said:


> LOL, funny thing about horses is that you can wrap them in bubble wrap and house them in a rubber room and they would still find a way to hurt themselves.


 
Horses are Murphy's law in action. :-|

Anything that can go wrong... will go wrong.


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## LuckyRVT

Careful with the nitro sticks. They tend to cause scaring in dogs/cats and people (idk about horses never used them on equine). although i have to agree they are pretty fantastic for bleeding areas that need to stop  at a equine vet i worked at we used a razer blade (like you would shave with) freshen up the proud flesh/wound but i for the life of me cannot remember what else we did it was a long time ago! :-/ seemed to work but i hated doing it looked so painful!


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## COWCHICK77

smrobs said:


> LOL, funny thing about horses is that you can wrap them in bubble wrap and house them in a rubber room and they would still find a way to hurt themselves.


Boy isn't that the truth!!!! And it's always the good ones! I couldn't kill bad horse if I tried:lol:


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## lovehorsesheaps

Hi my Mare hurt her self on the fence just above the knee I just cleaned it with clean water and also used betadine solution then wraped it and removed the bandage after three days. Cleaned the wound again which was messy! with yellow lotion on cotton wool and left the bandage off. Left it alone and checked every day and applied yellow lotion to clean of any more mess. When you see the wound heeling from the out side in it is on it's way to scabbing up so just leave it alone and see if it will heel with out using any more lotion. I hope this helps.


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## Goosey

Wow!! So I took the bandage off after
48 hours of it being on with copper sulfate and 
All the proud flesh was gone, and it had shrunk
To less than half it's size!! Amazing! Best treatment yet _Posted via Mobile Device_


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## NorthernMama

This whole proud flesh thing was new to me when I got back into horses. It seemed like everyone was all concerned about it, but I had never heard of it when we had horses when I was a kid. I agree with SMRobs and CowChick -- the "over-care" that people do now is more of a problem than anything.

Goosey, as for being devastated over a scar -- why? Heavens, its not like it's a hugely noticeable area and I'll bet if the cut had been left alone more, you wouldn't have had a scar at all. Whether you will now is yet to be seen.


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## lovehorsesheaps

NorthernMama said:


> This whole proud flesh thing was new to me when I got back into horses. It seemed like everyone was all concerned about it, but I had never heard of it when we had horses when I was a kid. I agree with SMRobs and CowChick -- the "over-care" that people do now is more of a problem than anything.
> 
> Goosey, as for being devastated over a scar -- why? Heavens, its not like it's a hugely noticeable area and I'll bet if the cut had been left alone more, you wouldn't have had a scar at all. Whether you will now is yet to be seen.


Oh so true!:shock:


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## Goosey

NorthernMama, if you read my post correctly it said i WOULD'NT be devastated if it scarred. Maybe take the time to properly read through things.
My horse's legs are far from perfect but I really don't give two hoots.
Everyone is saying to just leave it alone but as far as I'm concerned, when I just left it, it festered! And how can I just turn my horse out with a huge lump of proud flesh and let the flies eat at it and put all their nasty stuff into it?

For anyone that reads this and is looking for the best treatment, don't buy Debrisol, its a waste of time. Opt for treatments that involve Copper Sulfate, or just go out and buy yourself some bluestone! I was so so amazed at how well it worked, after trying what seemed like everything. 
This is what the farrier did/recommended:
Get some gamgee, enough to surround the pastern and dampen the end of it and put some bluestone on it, placing it over the proud flesh, making sure to cover all of it.
Wrap the rest around the limb smoothly. Cover in Vetwrap , not tight enough to cut off circulation but not too loose that it will slip  
After the vet wrap, do 1-2 layers of duct tape to keep that thing in place! You will want to leave this on for 48 hours. After the time has passed...take the bandage off. Hurray! All the proud flesh will hopefully be gone! If you still want to take away more proud flesh, Leave the bandage off for about 4-6 hours but apply some manuka honey mixed with brown sugar and slather it on. Repeat the process to get rid of more of that proud flesh  Once all the proud flesh is gone, keep that cut from developing more proud flesh by putting the manuka honey and brown sugar mix on it.
Let me know if this also worked for you! Saved me a tonne in vet bills!


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## NorthernMama

Goosey said:


> NorthernMama, if you read my post correctly it said i WOULD'NT be devastated if it scarred. Maybe take the time to properly read through things.


Oh, jeepers. Sorry. When I read your opening post, I did read it correctly. Then later on when you wrote you wouldn't be devastated, I read exactly that you would be.  Don't know how I did that.


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## Goosey

Before the copper sulfate was applied, after 48 hours of it bandages on, then after another 24 hours bandaged on...Holy Smoly!! Told you it works nicely!


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## NorthernMama

Yay. Looking good now.


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## beau159

Interesting conversation on proud flesh. I definately did NOT know about the washing thing. I wonder though, how does that compare to soaking in Epsom Salt? 

When my horse tried to cut off his own front foot  using barbed wire fencing :-| (miracle he didn't bleed to death), we soaked it once a day in a bucket of water and Epsom salt for 20 minutes (or attempted to make it to 20 minutes anyway, without the bucket getting spilled). 

We also had a big issue with proud flesh, with such a deep and large wound area. We started using PROUDSOFF made by Ceva Animal Products and wow did that work wonders! Took care of all of it. Main ingredient: Cupric Sulfate 49%


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## Goosey

Yep I definitely recommend anything that contains Copper Sulphate/ Bluestone.
I have only really heard of using epsom salts to soak a hoof abscess, interesting. 
This is my first time dealing with proud flesh so hadn't heard of Epsom salts? 
Manuka honey is a big win too...dont forget about it! Haha


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