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  Discussion on Encourage Hair Growth on Pastern Wound?
Author Message
Member:
Bucky

Posted on Thursday, Jul 22, 2004 - 2:47 pm:

Hello,

My horse tore open the inside of her rear left pastern in May. It is slowly healing but I was wondering if anyone knew of anything to put on it to encourage the hair to grow back and minimize scaring. It is about the size of a nickel.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Jul 24, 2004 - 11:28 am:

Good overall wound care in your best bet Mandy. See Equine Diseases » Skin Diseases » Long Term Deep Wound Care for more.
DrO
Member:
Mrose

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 - 8:49 am:

Mandy, once a wound has started to heal over, I put vitamin E on it. I've had major wounds heal over with no scarring.
Member:
Bucky

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 - 10:15 am:

Thanks Sara-That what I was looking for. I thought there was a "vitamin" you could put on skin while healing to prevent scaring & encourage healing. Does anyone have any experience with emu oil and skin wounds?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 28, 2004 - 8:12 am:

Whoa guys. Good studies have actually shown harmful effects from the topical application of vitamin E to wounds:

Dermatol Surg. 1999 Apr;25(4):311-5.
Baumann LS, Spencer J.
The effects of topical vitamin E on the cosmetic appearance of scars.

University of Miami Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, Miami, Florida, USA.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin E is a generic term for a group of tocol and tocotrienol derivatives. Since the discovery that vitamin E is the major lipid soluble antioxidant in skin, this substance has been tried for the treatment of almost every type of skin lesion imaginable. Anecdotal reports claim that vitamin E speeds wound healing and improves the cosmetic outcome of burns and other wounds. Many lay people use vitamin E on a regular basis to improve the outcome of scars and several physicians recommend topical vitamin E after skin surgery or resurfacing. OBJECTIVE: We attempted to determine whether topically applied vitamin E has any effect on the cosmetic appearance of scars as suggested by multiple anectodal reports. METHODS: Fifteen patients who had undergone skin cancer removal surgery were enrolled in the study. All wounds were primarily closed in 2 layers. After the surgery, the patients were given two ointments each labeled A or B. A was Aquaphor, a regular emollient, and the B was Aquaphor mixed with vitamin E. The scars were randomly divided into parts A and B. Patients were asked to put the A ointment on part A and the B ointment on part B twice daily for 4 weeks. The study was double blinded. The physicians and the patients independently evaluated the scars for cosmetic appearance on Weeks 1, 4, and 12. The criteria was simply to recognize which side of the scar looked better if there was any difference. The patients' and the physicians' opinions were recorded. A third blinded investigator was shown photographs of the outcomes and their opinion was also noted. RESULTS: The results of this study show that topically applied vitamin E does not help in improving the cosmetic appearance of scars and leads to a high incidence of contact dermatitis. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that there is no benefit to the cosmetic outcome of scars by applying vitamin E after skin surgery and that the application of topical vitamin E may actually be detrimental to the cosmetic appearance of a scar. In 90% of the cases in this study, topical vitamin E either had no effect on, or actually worsened, the cosmetic appearance of scars. Of the patients studied, 33% developed a contact dermatitis to the vitamin E. Therefore we conclude that use of topical vitamin E on surgical wounds should be discouraged.

DrO
Member:
Presario

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 28, 2004 - 9:54 am:

Dr O, do you know if there were any separate studies to show if it was perhaps the combination of the Aquaphor and Vit E that cause the problems (or lack of progress) in the scars? I don't know what's in Aquaphor, but I suppose it's possible that something in it could react with the Vit E in a negative way, right? I personally don't use Vit E for this, I use another product, but I do know a lot of people who swear by E.
Member:
Mrose

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 28, 2004 - 10:02 am:

Very interesting. I became a believer in Vit E after it was suggested to me to use it to prevent scaring from chicken pox when the boys were little. I've sinced used it on myself and horses. I use the oil direct from the capsules and don't use it until scabs begin to form-never on an open wound. I've never had a problem with it and always thought it helped a lot.
Member:
Bucky

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 28, 2004 - 10:02 am:

Interesting--thanks for the study.
Member:
Presario

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 28, 2004 - 11:27 am:

...and, are there equivalent studies on horses? Could there be a difference in reactions between humans and horses?
Member:
Cwilson

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 28, 2004 - 2:10 pm:

I found a product call MEGA-TEK Equine Rebuilder which says it can premote hair growth on injuries and blanket rubs. It is a lotion. Our horse was bitten by another horse and it took the hair off-looked like he had been shaved. The skin wasn't broken so I tried this stuff and there seems to be some new hair growth. He also had some bare spots where his halter seemed to be rubbing him and I used this product.
This company has a web-site: www.eqyss.com
On the bottle it says: "May stimulate and promote rapid regrowth without the use of silicone, synthetic polymers, oils or petroleum based products which cause dry, brittle-hair and hoofs.
Chris
Member:
Sparky

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 28, 2004 - 5:37 pm:

I was told that wheatgrass spray worked well for wounds - here is a link to read about it
https://www.greenbarley.com/cgi-bin/auststore/commerce.cgi?cart_id=1091051723.977 42&product=Skin&pid=64
It is supposed to be very good for exzeama also.
Janet
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jul 29, 2004 - 6:27 am:

You can hypothesize hundreds of reasons why the above report may yield inaccurate results but here is another larger study that supports it:

J Burn Care Rehabil. 1986 Jul-Aug;7(4):309-12.
Failure of topical steroids and vitamin E to reduce postoperative scar formation following reconstructive surgery.
Jenkins M, Alexander JW, MacMillan BG, Waymack JP, Kopcha R.
Shriners Burns Institute, Cincinnati, OH 45219.

One hundred fifty-nine operative procedures for postburn contractures of interdigital webs (96), the axilla (46), or the neck (17) were prospectively randomized to be treated postoperatively for four months with a topical steroid (Aristocort A), topical vitamin E, or the base cream carrier for these drugs. The nature of the medication was blinded both to the patient and to the evaluator. Patients were followed for one year. Observations were made for range of motion, scar thickness, change in graft size, and ultimate cosmetic appearance. No beneficial effect of either vitamin E or topical steroid could be demonstrated. However, adverse reactions occurred in 16.4% of patients receiving active drug, compared to 5.9% treated only with base cream. Interestingly, the grafts initially contracted and subsequently grew to be a size larger (about 20%) than the original graft by one year. It is concluded that neither topical steroid nor topical vitamin E is effective in reducing scar formation after grafting procedures for reconstruction for postburn contractures.

On the other hand I cannot find any rigourous studies that supports the use of Vit E topically for wound care. I cannot find anything in the literature on wheatgrass. Janet and Chris do you really think hair will grow faster if you put this stuff on the skin because the company that sells it says so?
DrO
Member:
Cowgrl

Posted on Thursday, Jul 29, 2004 - 11:35 am:

If that stuff will re-grow hair, soon there will be no bald-headed people in the world and Rogaine will be out of business.
Member:
Bucky

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 4, 2004 - 1:52 pm:

Hello Again,

This time I have included a picture. It has actually really started to seal up since my first post. What I am concerned about now is the bump which you can see in the picture. She is not lame at all. Will the bump go away?--how much should I be riding her if at all? My vet said is is healing well it is just going to take a while. I really am not trying to solve baldness--just encourage good healing. Bump
Member:
Longhorn

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 4, 2004 - 11:16 pm:

Okay, here's my "lay-"hypothesis. Whenever a topical ointment or salve seems to "work" on healing, hair growth, skin health and elasticity, etc., I think it's because the healing or regrowth would've happened anyway (probably very gradually) and the massaging action of applying the product promotes the flow of blood to the area and stimulates other gland and chemical production that may accellerate the process thus causing the appearance of miraculous results. NOT that the active ingredients in the product are the actual causes of the regeneration or healing of the area. Just my thoughts.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Aug 5, 2004 - 5:10 pm:

I can see the bump Mandy but can't really figure if I am looking at a large chunk of scar (keloid) or skin grown back over a lump of granulation tissue. Both will remodel and grow smaller but the granulation will improve a lot more than the keloid.

You may have a point Laura, the trick is find a substance that does not impair healing.
DrO
Member:
Christos

Posted on Monday, Aug 9, 2004 - 8:37 am:

There are some products that contain mild irritants and they claim to promote hair growth.
I have never used them on bald or open skin, believing that skin needs its fauna and flora and one better not experiment with it, especially through a repairing, unprotected phase.
But I have applied mild irritants (Cornucrescine ointment) on the coronet band of some very slowly growing hooves, and I believe it accelerated growth significantly. I guess it would also promote hair growth, should one want to try it.

All the best,
Christos
Member:
Pamm

Posted on Sunday, Aug 21, 2005 - 2:47 pm:

I have a problem with a wound on the tip of the hip joint that I can not get healed. I can't seem to find out how to post a question to Dr.O. I do not see where Create a new discussion is listed , please help. Thanks
Member:
Sunny66

Posted on Sunday, Aug 21, 2005 - 4:15 pm:

Hello Pam,

Go to the top of this page and click on:

Overview of Diseases of the Pastern

Scroll down to the end of the topics, you will then see a "start new discussion" link. Click there and type away.

Good luck with your horse.
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Monday, Aug 22, 2005 - 11:09 am:

This is a very interesting discussion and I am grateful for the information. I am wondering if Dr. O would recommend any of the human preparations made specifically for scars? Also, when my Mother suffered severe burns a few years ago, the dermatologist had her wash and redress the wounds (I cannot recall for certain, but think it was twice daily) first with soap and water and then irrigate the areas thoroughly with sterile saline. At some point she also used some special creams that were supposed to be helpful. Is there any healing value to using the saline on horse wounds? Using a spray can of saline is certainly an easy way to clean and remove debris thoroughly. Again, thanks for the significant information!
Member:
Eoeo

Posted on Monday, Aug 22, 2005 - 2:41 pm:

We had the job of doctoring a major leg wound for a friend. The vet had us apply cotton around it, wrap it with guaze and then vet wrap. Then we pured saline solution in and soaked all the bandage. It was amazing how it helped it to heal.
Saline would be good I would imaagine. EO
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 23, 2005 - 6:15 am:

Isotonic saline is certainly the mildest wash solution of all from a physiologic standpoint. If pressure can be developed, say like a Water-Pik, it can be used in place of water under pressure as described in out article. It would not be practical in a large wound that needed a lot of debridement and I have found water itself an acceptable medium but for a small clean wound it would be a good choice.

Vicky, I am afraid to comment generally about a number of different products but if you will specify the active ingredients of the products you are interested in I would be glad to comment. Currently I do not use any such products yet get very large and very wide lacerations that expose bone healed with minimal scar formation using the techniques in the article on long term wound care.
DrO
Member:
Bucky

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 23, 2005 - 10:30 am:

I had a trailer accident and my horse had to have staples in the back of her front leg. After the staples were pulled out I washed it with water and put nolvasan cream on it EVERYDAY for quite a while (as Dr. O recommends in his article). The hair has grown back and it has healed very well. There is a little spot about 1/2" long that hasn't filled in yet, but it still might. This horse has slow growing hooves and hairs.

I wish I had known about Nolvasan cream and water for the above mentioned wound that started this discussion but it was to late by the time I learned of it and I am very sorry to say she has a permanant bump and scar. Anyhow the only place I have seen Nolvasan Cream is at www.valleyvet.com. Keep some around!
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