Things You Should and Should Not Put on a Horse's Wound

Thehorse.com - Full Article

By Alexandra Beckstett, The Horse Managing Editor
Feb 18, 2016

Horse owners and veterinarians have been treating equine wounds for centuries. After all, horses are unabashedly practiced at the art of sustaining wounds. Over the years we’ve tried many different wound ointments and salves, cleansers and dressings, but not all of them are backed by evidence of safety and/or efficacy.

So Dean Hendrickson, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVS, professor of equine surgery at Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, went back to basics, describing effective and ineffective wound-cleaning agents to an audience of veterinarians at the 2015 Annual American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, held Dec. 5-9, in Las Vegas.

Although our intentions are good, “most wound-cleaning agents and techniques will cause chemical or mechanical trauma to the wound bed,” he said. “Weigh the benefits of cleaning the wound against the trauma that agent will cause.”

In other words, ask yourself: Is that cleaning agent ultimately going to speed up or retard wound-healing?...

Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/37165/things-you-should-and-should-not-put-on-a-horses-wound?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=health-news&utm_campaign=02-23-2016