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  Discussion on Forehead rubbing
Author Message
New Member:
Joysdad

Posted on Thursday, Aug 31, 2006 - 10:32 pm:

I have a health question with my Morgan mare that I need help with. Starting in mid July, she started to rub her forehead enough so that she took off the hair and made herself bloody. We caught it quick enough, and the vet put her on Panalog Ointment and 500 mg/day of HyDrOxyzine HCI. It was under control after about two weeks and she was healing. A week ago, I noticed that the wound reappeared and I ordered another round of the drugs. She's rubbed it worse every day, even with the treatment, and now it's twice as big as it was before. I have a barn call scheduled for tomorrow, so we will go at it again. We'll continue to chase the source of the irritant (off pasture until we can knock it down and rake, switch fly repellent, etc.)

My question is, do you have any suggestions about how to protect her from rubbing her forehead as it heals the second time? It obviously itches, so she'll want to scratch it. Gauze and tap don't stick to foreheads. They don't make the "invisible bandage" stuff that they make for people, and even if they did, she'd rub it off. I need some way to protect her in spite of herself. We as humans can empathize (remember the last time itching DrOve you crazy and you scratched even when you knew that you shouldn't?).

Any help would be appreciated.
Member:
Hwood

Posted on Thursday, Aug 31, 2006 - 10:59 pm:

Welcome, Andrew. Where are you in New Hampshire?
What did the vet think was the cause of the original itching spree? Have you checked her for ticks? One of the places ticks sometimes hide is under the forelock and there are usually some sticky scabs at the base of the forelock hair. Is she pink skinned or dark skinned where she is rubbing? Does the skin look flaky before she starts rubbing? Any bumps or blisters?

I wonder if solarcaine or aloe . . . or calamine would work.
New Member:
Mkwood

Posted on Thursday, Aug 31, 2006 - 11:35 pm:

I have a gelding that is allergic to biting midges, and he does the same thing. In addition to a good fly spray, my vet prescribed Dexamethasone . It worked wonders, made the itch go away and allowed him to heal. Mary
Member:
Sdms

Posted on Friday, Sep 1, 2006 - 12:00 am:

Hi Andrew and welcome. I don't have any suggestions on what might be causing the itching but I'm sure you'll get plenty of good advice here from others. To prevent her from hurting herself further, however, you might try to keep her in a fly mask until she heals. This, hopefully, will make it more difficult to rub herself raw. Good luck!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Sep 1, 2006 - 7:18 am:

Andrew,
There are lots of possibilities. Depending on persistence, you could modify and reinforce a fly mask or if the rubbing is high enough a traveling head bumper might help. There also are neoprene head gear used during the recovery from surgery that might help. I believe I have seen the neoprene head gear sold by Shanks a company that builds equine surgery tables that your vet should be familiar with.

Concerning therapy have you given large doses of ivermectin and is the skin pigmented or not?
DrO
Member:
Tinaw40

Posted on Friday, Sep 1, 2006 - 7:34 am:

Hi Andrew,
I have two horses with the same problem. Yes, I was lucky enough to have two and I have had both of them for four years.
Both horses are on HyDrOxyzine, each with a different dosage depending upon what works with them. I keep both of them out of the sun and under fans to keep them cool as the heat irritates the skin and causes further itching. They receive baths three times per week with a good medicated shampoo allowing it to stand on the affected areas for 5 - 10 minutes. I also use a cream mixture of 90% Nolvasan and 10% hydracortisone cream on the affected areas as well. This routine seems to take care of my horses and I have tried EVERYTHING! You can't stop your horse from itching herself but you can attempt to stop the itching and the cream mixture and keeping them cool worked wonders for my boys. Good luck!
Tina
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Friday, Sep 1, 2006 - 3:52 pm:

One of my guys rubs his face horribly in the summertime, and I think part of it is due to the heat and sweating (he also seems to get some fungus on his face when it is hot and humid), plus insects. What I have found helpful this summer is putting MTG on cotton pads and rubbing that all over his face as needed. He loves when I rub it on. It truly seems to stop the itching and helps the hair grow back. I don't apply it every day, but on an as-needed basis. And I apply it in the evening to discourage it from causing greater sun-sensitivity. The product contains sulphur, so I put on disposable gloves when I use it. I also put fly spray on his face once daily in the insect season. All of the horse product catalogs carry MTG, which I learned about on this site. It has been a very helpful product for skin problems this summer.
Member:
Tinaw40

Posted on Friday, Sep 1, 2006 - 8:02 pm:

I've not tried MTG before. My QH has the same problem on his face and I've used the Nolvasan/Cortisone mixture and it has seemed to help a lot. However, I will grab some MTG to see if that works even better. Thanks!
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Friday, Sep 1, 2006 - 8:38 pm:

I've been told that cortisone use will thin the skin over a period of time. I use it for some things also, when I must, but it is wonderful when something like MTG helps some of these itching problems.
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