I thought it may be interesting for some of you to see the process of healing of a horse who recently came to me for wound management.

Horse sustained a wound to her shoulder with a puncture type gash in the center of it, the injury was first seen by the horse's owner the eve of Dec 16.

On Dec 17 I hauled the horse to the veterinarian for the owner, the wound was shaved and cleaned and 7 days of antibiotic were perscribed for the horse, I then took her to my place.

The first several days, I cleaned the wound thoroughly everyday with simple warm water with a light antiseptic in it, always rinsing thoroughly afterward, drying with sterile pads, then using a clear gel-like creme called vulketan, on the wound. The area was then covered with an 8X10 sterile pad, which was sown to a towel which covered the area and went all around her neck & shoulders, over top that to hold everything in place was a shoulder guard and then a regular blanket. Since it is winter, keeping the wound warm and free of infection is paramount! If the wound were to be infected, or if the cold damaged the wound, healing would take much much longer!

Dec 20th - before the wound was cleaned.

As you can see, there is some fluid coming from the wound but no 'yellow' puss like you would see with an infection. There are two triangular skin flaps that somewhat cover the wound, I belive the vet should have removed them, as they were no longer live skin, and eventually would die off completely. At this stage the wound was scrubbed thoroughly even inside the gash and under the skin flaps, as well as treated & covered as mentioned above. The horse also had a swollen knee which was cold-hosed to keep the swelling minimal.

The second picture was taken Dec 22 druing the cleaning, as you can see the two skin flaps are starting to die and pull back as they shrivel up and the edges of the wound are trying to close in slightly.

Dec 26th - you can see the edges really closing in now and the depth of the gash becoming less and less. The skin flaps are dying even more, and although the redness is looking scary, it is a very good thing, since a little blood means it is live tissue that will heal quickly. At this stage the wound is still being cleaned daily with antiseptic and warm water, the horse is now off the antibiotics so we still want to make sure infection stays away. The wound is also still being covered with the large sterile pads, towels, shoulder guard and blanket. However at this point I started using a spray called Dermagel which forms a clean protective layer over the wound, I love the stuff! And again I cannot stress enough that keeping the wound covered, warm and clean is what is doing all the work!

December 29th, the wound is really starting to close in on the center and the deep cash is almost level with the rest of the skin now, the skin flaps, especially the top one, has really pulled away now and are almost totally dead and gone. These photos were all taken with my little motorola cell phone, by the way :)

December 30th, almost 2 weeks now, the injury is smaller than my hand (it was much larger before), the depth of the gash is almost insignificant now. The wound is still being cleaned daily, sprayed with Dermagel and coved.

January 5th now, the skin flaps are dead and almost ready to pick off soon, the wound has closed up a significant amount over the last 5 days and there is no more depth to it. There is still some ooze coming off it, so it is still being cleaned, not as extensively though, but still thoroughly treated and covered. Remember the pics are just from certain days but this injury is being looked after DAILY, sometimes twice a day, if it is creating a significant amount of fluid.

January 10th, the wound is now tiny, as you can see the bottom dead skin flap has come off nicely, the wound is level and pulled together cleanly. At this point there is no more fluids coming out but it is still being covered for warmth and I am using a little bag balm around the edges (bag balm is like an antiseptic vaseline) it keeps the edges nice and moist and tight, and keeping the bare skin from drying out too much.

Here are the latest few images that I have of the happy patient, I even fixed her mane (first pic- the vet had hacked it near the wound, second pic- my fix) Of course after all that resting she went for a rip around the paddock and the tiny remaining wound bled a little, but other than that, at this point it still gets little bag balm and stays covered, but it's as good as gone. I cannot forget to thank her owner for trusting me and the horse for being such a cooperative patient and putting all her effort into healing, which only makes me realize that even right at the start, she may have been injured, but it was a long way from her heart :)

This last one taken in March: a couple white hairs but otherwise no harm done :)