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  Discussion on Vitamin C and Wound Healing?
Author Message
New Member:
Gardener

Posted on Friday, Feb 20, 2004 - 6:26 pm:

Hello! I was wondering if supplementing additional Vitamin C would help speed up healing. Our horse got tangled in some smooth wire fencing, and has a leg wound that is slow to heal. I had heard that Vitamin C might help. Is this true at all? Thanks!}}
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Feb 21, 2004 - 9:08 am:

Welcome Inez,
If the horses is not old and if diet is good otherwise, vitamin C is unlikely to be of benefit. You might want to look at our articles on wound healing and care for ideas, you will find them on the menu Equine Diseases » Skin Diseases.
DrO
Member:
Gardener

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 9, 2004 - 7:35 pm:

Hello! I will try to remember everything that I had posted in the past few posts.

The mare is 18 yrs. old. I had mentioned that the wound occurred in Jan. 2003, but due to freezing temperatures we didn't realize how deep it was til it warmed up, which was perhaps a month later. We put the mare on penicillin, administered 10 cc bute orally for 5 days and I started bandaging. The vet came out again the end of April, and said the wound was healing nicely, and that I could stop bandaging. However, every time I quit bandaging the leg swelled. So, I bandaged again for another month. It seemed to very slowly be getting smaller. Originally it had been more than 10" long, and width-wise from the inside middle of the leg to the other side. She was not lame on it all summer, and I hosed it when the weather got warm enough to run a hose, but that was sometimes an issue where I boarded. In September, the horse was limping again, and the vet put her on penicillin again, and I moved her to a new boarding facility where I was able to hose the leg for 30 minutes each day. However, we got snow that last week of October, and that was it for hosing. I now clean it daily with a spray bottle of water and betadine solution, mixed to look like weak tea. She kicked a 2x4 rail in half in her paddock in Dec. and we had more swelling. Basically, it hasn't improved much since the fall, but there seems to be slight improvement lately. There is a lot of grey scar tissue, but there is pink coloring around the edges of the wound, although not around the whole wound.

You had asked what I was feeding the mare, and she is getting good quality hay in the morning and the evening, and I take her pelleted horse food mixed with 1 cup of milled flax, and 1 cup of Hoffman's Minerals daily. I also add the therapeutic does of Pure Form glucosamine and MSM (although I've been reading here that there is no proof that it helps). I forgot to mention last posts that I did try her on Recovery which is MSM, Glucosamine and Nutracol last September, which is about the same time she went lame. However, it is also the same time that they introduced a pony to the paddock next door to the mare, and I know she kicked at the fence at the pony, and connected with the fence on many occasions, so who knows what caused the lameness. I also have the mare on horse herbs as she is quite hormonal in the winter.

I am putting Vulketan gel on the wound when I don't bandage it, which contains 0.25% ketanserin tartrate. When I bandage I use Green Wound Cream, which contains dermabase, eucerin, diodol, ethacillin, biosol and predef. The wound does so much better when I bandage, but the mare has lots of sores on the top of her hock from the long term bandaging. We've just taken a 2 week break from the bandages. Friends who don't see the wound often tell me that they see it getting smaller, but it is a slow, slow process. I have noticed a slight change only in the past 2 months.

Anyways, I think that was about it.

Thanks so much!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Mar 11, 2004 - 12:14 pm:

Hello Inez,
Though quite a complicated mixture, some of which has equivocal reports of efficacy and much of which I cannot find any information on, I do not see how this is any better than our recommendations in the article on long term wound care. One concern I have is the corticosteroid (predef) in one of the products may slow down wound healing. If you are having trouble assessing healing I suggest you take sequestial pictures along with a reference taped next to the wound (a small ruler, coin, etc...)

Yes sometimes wounds do become "exhausted" and quit healing and if a older wound goes several weeks without any signs of improvement either freshening the wound where the surface of the granulation bed is excised or grafting can be considered.
DrO
Member:
Gardener

Posted on Friday, Mar 12, 2004 - 7:30 pm:

Thanks for the response. I actually found some 1% cream sulfadiazine in our medicine cabinent, which was prescribed for my husband for a burn. I noticed in the article on long term wound care, it talked about 1% silver sufaciazine. I am wondering if this is the same thing, because if it is, then perhaps I should use it on the wound. Also, going back to the first post, is Vitamin C beneficial in healing for older horses with old wounds?
Thanks so much for all your help.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Mar 13, 2004 - 9:34 am:

It might be the same, I cannot tell from here, perhaps you could contact who you got it from.

The vitamin C question is being debated that it might be of help in older horses and it would not hurt to give a general vitamin supplement as outlined in our article on vitamins. But vitamin C is not going to cause your wound to heal.
DrO
Member:
Gardener

Posted on Saturday, Mar 13, 2004 - 2:03 pm:

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it. I did look into the burn cream I have, and it is SSD - silver sulfadiazine, so I will give that a try.

Thanks so much!
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