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Discussion on Hard Swelling on cheek bone
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Member:
remmi
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Posted on Friday, Feb 20, 2009 - 9:12 am:
Last week my horse came out of the pasture with a hard swelling on his cheek bone - bigger than a golf ball. He plays face games daily, so I assumed he got hit in the head. The vet came, took head xrays, and they felt it was a severe bone bruise. The swelling is hard, warm and painful. After a week of hot compressing, bute, SMZ's, and rubbing surpass into the bump, nothing has changed. The swelling is not going down. It is a little less painful. My horse feels great and is eating normally.
Dr. O, any suggestions?
Thank you!
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Member:
canter
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Posted on Friday, Feb 20, 2009 - 10:46 am:
Hi Heidi, for what it's worth: last summer, my husband DrOpped a rather large TV right on top of his foot. We thought he broke the foot so I brought him to the emergency room (once I stopped laughing) for xrays and it was a severe bone bruise...very painful and swollen. Took well over a month for the swelling and pain to even start to go down substantially. If your horse does indeed have a bone bruise, based on my husband's unfortunate experience, it may take a while to go away
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Member:
imogen
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Posted on Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 - 3:35 am:
I had a horse that got a bone bruise on the canon bone - took about 3 months to go away but did not affect soundness. It was painful if pressed. The only thing that seemed to help was lunging her in the sea (very cold estuary current) and encouraging her to stand in the channel. Can't quite see how you could do that to the head, so I suppose Ice packs if the horse will put up with it, and don't worry as long as there's no infection.
Imogen
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 - 9:20 am:
As others note Heidi it takes several months for some bone bruises to resolve. Sometimes longer if there is calcium deposition and remodeling required. Treatment for the diagnosis of bruising seeems logical though I would not be using Surpass with bute, question the antibiotics, and the first few days should have been cold compresses rather than hot.
DrO
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Member:
remmi
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Posted on Monday, Feb 23, 2009 - 1:07 pm:
Thank you for your feedback. The bump is still hard but it is about 20% smaller. I have stopped the bute and SMZ but am still using Surpass on the bump.
A friend suggested I use Splintex Silver, which is supposed to help reduce swelling in fresh splints. The company is called Splintex - I called them today and they said it will prevent calcification on bone bruises. Anyone have any experience with it? I have a friend who used their product on old splints and they disappeared within 3 months.
Thanks all.
Heidi
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Tuesday, Feb 24, 2009 - 7:52 am:
Calcification takes some time so would not be much of a concern at this time. For more on how trauma induces calcium formation and splint removal products see, Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Diseases of the Lower Limb » Diseases of the Splint Bones.
DrO
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Member:
remmi
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 26, 2009 - 5:13 pm:
Thanks all for your feedback.
Have I mentioned lately how much I love this site?! I have been able to get information and answers 100% of the time. Amazing!
Heidi
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