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Discussion on Pocket formed from injury on heel..what to do?
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Member:
Sandydee
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 2, 2005 - 1:50 am:
Hi, my gelding had an injury or abscess on his heel a few days back.He was very sore and I soaked it daily in epsom salt and cleaned it well.He is doing better now, but I am confused on what this is.There was no drainage as in an abscess, but the heel was swollen and red. Now it seems to be healing..but there is a pocket between the harder tissue and the softer tissue of the heel.Is this trimmed off or will it mend itself? I trimmed some of it away that was trapping dirt in it. He is moving much better and the area isn't sore to touch as it was before.I have attached a pic.Thanks!
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 2, 2005 - 7:51 am:
Great picture Sandy. Both a healing abscess that popped out at the heel or trauma to the heel might present like this. One of the big differences would be an abscess would have lameness before the defect and the smell on the first day after rupture: abscesses almost always stink badly.
Trimming away the undermined horn will help prevent it from pocketing dirt but will expose tender tissue that in time will recornify. So you can make arguments that go both ways. If you don't have trouble keeping it clean and the horse is sound leave it a while as a bandage but eventually it should be trimmed off.
DrO
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Member:
Sandydee
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 2, 2005 - 1:45 pm:
Thanks for the response.Your help is greatly appreciated.Sandy
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Member:
Corinne
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Posted on Tuesday, Apr 4, 2006 - 8:59 pm:
Sandy,
I noticed today prior to my ride that my horse has something similar on his heel (but below the hair line entirely) and to a lesser degree. I suspect it might have been from some sort of trauma (or perhaps a crack in his heel that got a little infected) because he has never been lame, there is no heat, pain on palpation, there is no drainage or smell (although a small bump and a small opening) and there is only mild redness. That's not to say that he didn't have a small abcess while at the training barn but once again was never lame a day there either so from reading the research article for abcesses on this site and other posts it is probably something else like a cut.
I was going to write and ask Dr O about it but I found your post and the picture and it answered my questions as well. Sorry your guy was sore and went through this but Thank you immensely for the picture....not only do they give Dr O a good clinical piture...they help the rest of us in similiar situations. I love this site!
Just curious if your guy had any additional problems. Did he heal quickly?
v/r
Corinne
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