Help! Bad rope burn

[Sharon Leboffe]

I did a really stupid thing. Tied Canseco on a lunge line so he could graze and then ran to the potty. Returned to find him on three legs, left hind kicking and full weight on the lunge line. Thankful that he trusted me to get between the line and his body and released. It all took about 5 seconds, I swear I saw it happen coming back. It cut and burned him at the fetlock joint pretty bad. I had him on antibiotics, vet cream (can't remember the name) cleaned and bandaged every day for 2 week. Then it seemed like it was ready to let it breath so cleaned it and applied bag balm every other day for the third week, which is now. It is healing very slowly because of the area. Does anyone have experience with this kind of injury, how long does it take? ? I am so ashamed, guilty and doing my best. Thanks all. Sharon L. :oops:

[ErinC]

use this,
I used it on a nasty wound and now you could not even find it if you tried

http://www.smartpakequine.com/ProductClass.aspx?productclassid=1733&cmPreserveSource=true&cmPreserveCategory=true

[Pasogirlz]

Do you have an aloe plant?

[appyday]

Corona is good too..

[Abejita]

Ok a few things might also be slowing the healing..We are basically in the same climate ..so I know that if he is on grass, this time of year it is very 'dewy' and sometimes never dries ..(although todays wind and massive drop in temps will keep things dry!) SO that can slow healing some.
It will take some time and you may need to continue wrapping depending on his environment.in that area an ointment can actually attract dirt , sawdust etc that can inhibit healing..You could use an ointment like Biozide which is antibacterial ..and softens up scabs well..or an aloe cream.

[Linda Y]

Awww, poor pony! Rope burns are terrible. Slow healing and really painful.
You may want to try sweet lime. Will help keep it dry and is great for healing.

[SandyMM]

Biozide which is antibacterial
I _love_ Biozide. It sticks without attracting a lot of other goop and since it is red - you can see where it is. A little goes a long way. I think we paid our vet under $10 for an 8 oz jar (?). We used it on pete's barbwire cut on the inside front of his right hock - an impossible place to heal.... A smal scar remains, but _nothing_ like what it could have been!

[Abejita]

yeah that stuff is great !!

[motorgypsy]

Arwen is an idiot. She did the same thing. Since it was very clean we hit it immediately with wonderdust to cauterize it and it was healed in less than a week. We dusted it daily until we didn't see any more cracks in the scab.

You can't do this if the wound is in any way dirty by the way because it will seal in the dirt.

Now to keep it clean if you can't use wonderdust right awy we have used a lady's sanitary pad - thin variety - soaked in a 10 parts water, 1 part clorox solution, duct taped the pad onto the wound and then put a clean sock with the toe cut out over the whole thing. Just slip it over the hoof and pull it up over the duct tape. We used white cotton synthetic mix with some stretch but it should be fairly snug. We change it every day and do hydro therapy daily. Once it's cleaned up and healing clean you can then use wonderdust to seal it up so you no longer have to worry about any dressing on it. Use the wonderdust daily and watch for infection. There shouldn't be any at all and it should heal fine.

By the way - if you look at horses this is such a common injury and it heals fine but will usually leave a scar but has no funcitonal problems later so don't beat yourself up over it. Horses are like kids - they are accidents waiting to happen.

[Sharon Leboffe]

Hey all, thanks for your help and concerns. He is boarded an hour away so I have been able to go up every other day after the first week when I got up at 5:30 to go every day to clean and change his bandage and get back to work. Tomorrow I will go and see his progress. It is looking better, but slowly. The longe line was evil and cut into and ripped the skin so he has a cut into his heel and a wide burn just below his fetlock. I can't find Biozide in Valley Vet or Country Supply. Our farrier suggested Preparation H and a QH cowboy said just put Bag Balm on and let him go. I did what the vet said for a week but it just seemed like it needed some air, so I went with the Bag Balm. I don't like to keep the wound covered for such a long time. I have been keeping him, paddock and stall very clean. Maybe I should go back to the cream from the vet. It has aloe and antibiotic. So confused and guilty. Wish I could monitor him daily. He is walking fine and seems happy with extra hay and carrots. He is protective as I know it hurts but he knows I am trying to help. He is one of those horses who will find trouble and it always involves EATING! We are in a cold snap so there aren't too many bugs and flies. Should I walk him around and give him exercise. He looks like he has gained 50 lbs, but maybe it's just his winter coat. This is the longest in 9 years that he hasn't been ridden or even hand walked. For 3 weeks all I do is hand graze and baby him and he is getting a bit obnoxious. Have family obligations on Sunday. :roll: Will report asap. thanks again, Sharon L.

[Terry Wallace]

Sharon..try to get away from the "wet" topicals like Corona or bag Balm as soon as possible..it will need DRY treatment to keep it from developing any proud flesh. The sock idea is a good one, (it will keep dirt off) and wonder dust...or any antibiotic topical puffer dust, is the way to go....

Yes, it will likely scar, and usually will not be a functional problem...just a "cosmetic" blemish.... hair usually does not grow back on a rope burn...

[appyday]

Your bandaging a rope burn? Be careful you will grow proud fresh..I would keep it more dry then wet and wrapped...cells can grow fast in that environment..

[Tami Pinell]

One of the VA vets gave me "Red Sauve" I can get the jar from the barn and look at it for the ingredients. It will heal a wound and leave NO proud flesh - I have a stallion that tried his best to cut off his front leg - cut all the tendons in half - he has healed and is able to walk, run, buck, whatever he wants to do. You really have to look to see the scars.... great stuff. If you think you would want to use this, pm me and I will give you the vets number and address - I'm sure they would ship you a jar.

[motorgypsy]

If it's really wet out I still think once it's clean and healing the wonderdust will work fine even if it gets wet. It is a cautery agent which seals the wound and activated charcoal which has all sorts of healing properties. We gave activated charcoal internally to our goat with mineral oil when she poisoned herself. Great stuff and she's fine. I've used wonderdust on my self especially with hand cuts that are clean because they always tend to get dirty and infected later. It does sting but the good thing is you don't have to touch the horse or the wound to apply it. But if it's dirty, hydrotherapy and dilute clorox will clean it out and kill the bacteria.

Oh - I forgot one thing - to keep bugs away from it surround the injury with SWAT. Don't put it in the injury because it retards healing but it's fine to put it around the injury because it does keep bugs away. But then so does a sock.

Oh - thrushbuster and wonderdust are great for white line separations also. After we apply the thrushbuster which is a very powerful antiseptic we pack the cracks with wonderdust and it prevents the nasty mud from getting down into the minute cracks and starting the infection all over again.

[Sharon Leboffe]

I went out Saturday and it looks much better, most of it has healed, but the heal joint is trying to scab and of course cracks. I called our vet and he seemed comfortable with cleaning it and applying red coat spray which I did. Will go again Monday. There does seem to be a white line by the top of the hoof. Will check that and maybe do the thrush buster and/or wonderdust. The vet said not to put wonderdust on the wound/burn. Arrrgh, so much to worry about! Will let you know. Thanks again. Sharon L

[motorgypsy]

Interesting isn't it - vets even disagree. The injury does have to be totally clean though before you use wonderdust. I've used it on clean cuts before also and it's fine. Someone on the forum long ago recommended wonderdust and used properly it's great stuff. You don't go putting it on a puncture wound though. I would not put thrushbuster on a any open wound unless it was infected and nothing else worked. It has gentian violet in it and some other stuff that kills tissue. Oh it kills bacteria and viruses but there are other things that do also without kiling the tissue too. It's fine to prevent thrush because there's very little live tissue where you put the stuff anyway - in the boundary between the frog and the sole where it acts as a barrier to keep out bad bacteria and fungus.

[Terry Wallace]

Maybe he doesn't like the "charcoal" in Wonder dust... you can get a different kind of powder antibiotic, its yellow in a puffer tube, and I can't recall the name of it...

Sugardyne would be fine for this rope burn also....

[motorgypsy]

Terry I bet it's just a sulfur compound. Sulfur kills all kinds of stuff too and is probably a cautery. Sure does stink!!

Charcoal is wonderful for wounds. It adsorbs all kinds of nasty toxins and keeps it out of the body. It's a true miracle substance.

I bet it's the cautery agent that worries the vet because if there is any infection it seals it in. I was talking to a human doctor who was familiar with the wonderdust and he had used it on himslef and gave the same caution about knowing the wound is clean before using it so you don't seal bacteria in the wound.

[motorgypsy]

For any of you who haven't used sugardine it's great for things like thrush and anything where you can secure a paste. The sugar dilutes the betadine to the point where it doesn't destroy the tissue but still kills the bacteria, fungi etc. You take take regular sugar and add enough betadine to make a granular paste, then apply the paste and tape it up. Leave on 24 hours and you'll be amazed at the injury - how much better it looks!!

[Sharon Leboffe]

Just got back and Canseco's wound is looking better and better. I cleaned it but did not take the scabs off. Let it dry and put some more Red Coat (which has Scarlett Oil in it). My vet wants it to stay soft so it can grow from inside out "like leather," he said. "Too much initial dry scabbing tightens and cracks because of the joint movement." Most of the scabbing is from the cuts in his heel and the burn part looks like healthy tissue. There seem to be hairs starting to grow. The farrier said it will grow in white. Who knows!? I have not ridden or hand walked him for exercise until it looks good enough and I think maybe this weekend may be OK. We will be getting a lot of rain tomorrow, so it will be wet and muddy. Can't get back until Thursday, so hope he chooses to stay in and not muck around. Today I cleaned his entire paddock/stall of poop. He looks like he gained 50 lbs! He is walking around fine and doesn't favor it walking or standing. It was a nasty burn and cut. Gotta respect the longe lines, as I found out they can be incredibly dangerous like a sharp, hard ribbon. Not like a piece of twine, lead line or regular rope. I appreciate and have noted all the good advice but am going with my vet ($185 charge, plus gotta trust him, he works with race, bucking broncs, etc. ) and my gut. Will keep you all appraised. thanks so much. Sharon L

[Sharon Leboffe]

The vet says he is rideable! All healed. Scars, but looks like litte hairs are growing in. Can't tell if they will be black or white. Don't care. Can't hardly see it anyway. Unfortunately, this weekend looks like a washout with the rain and high winds. Just wanted to let everyone know. Thanks for everything! Sharon L.