Posted 2016-02-07 8:15 PM Subject: Mysterious left front lameness.. could it be related to a neck/pinched nerve?
boon
Posts: 3
Just wondering if anyone has had any dealings with anything like this.
My mare randomly came up lame about two years ago. I took her to the vet and they told me it was a strained deep digital flexor but they could never actually show it to me on the ultrasound. Long story short she had a year of stall rest/small turnout and then a year of full turnout while I finished school. After two years I began having vets look at her to diagnose while she was still limping.
At this point I have had multiple vets look at her and most of them don't have a clue where the lameness is coming from. She is sound on the circle on the soft but not even close to sound on the circle on the concrete. The only time she went any sounder was when they blocked the proximal suspensory at the origin of the carpus. We haven't gotten an MRI because they cannot even localize it to decide where to do the MRI.
We are going to get a bone scan done in a few weeks but my question is has anyone found out their horse actually had a neck injury or a pinched nerved that caused a front leg lameness? I know it is very common in people so I wondered if anyone had any experience with it happening in horses. Or any experience with neck injuries in general.
Or any experience with a high proximal suspensory injury? Any help is appreciated at this point!
Posted 2016-02-07 8:20 PM Subject: RE: Mysterious left front lameness.. could it be related to a neck/pinched nerve?
Veteran
Posts: 154
I have been told that bone scans are more accurate when the problem is more recent. So ask that question- just because diagnosis is so expensive. It sucks when tests are inconclusive.
I can shed some light on that mysterious lameness. Have the looked at the impar ligament? It connects the navicular bone to the coffin bone, very hard to image , but can be done via ultrasound. I know it can cause sesmoid soreness
Posted 2016-02-07 8:22 PM Subject: RE: Mysterious left front lameness.. could it be related to a neck/pinched nerve?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 516
My horse was on and off lame for about a year, sometimes worse than others. Turned out her need his hocks and SI injected. Made a huge difference when we did that.
Posted 2016-02-07 8:32 PM Subject: RE: Mysterious left front lameness.. could it be related to a neck/pinched nerve?
boon
Posts: 3
I have not heard anyone mention the impar ligament but I will definitely bring it up when we go back.
And as far as the bone scan goes they told me she needed to be exercised lightly so if there was a bone problem we would be more likely to see it. That is the only reason we didn't do it that day.
She had her hocks done a few months before the lameness started and we have had her SIs checked and we were told they were fine. But I would assume if it was SIs that she would be sound since I haven't been riding her.
Thank you for your input! We are willing to consider anything at this point.
Posted 2016-02-08 9:09 PM Subject: RE: Mysterious left front lameness.. could it be related to a neck/pinched nerve?
Thick and Wavy
Posts: 6102 Location: Nebraska
I had a mare that came out of a run once, pawed out one of her front legs and limped back to the trailer. A vet was at the race so i had him look at her. He said she pinched a nerve and adjusted her. She was sound. I had to do some exercises with her the next couple of weeks and never had a problem again. It was so weird.
Mysterious left front lameness.. could it be related to a neck/pinched nerve?
