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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 456
 
Location: SW MO | What is everyone's opinion of Shockwave therapy for a horse that has a high suspensory lesion (Front limb)? |
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 Expert
Posts: 2335
Location: IL | I had a heel horse with a high suspensory strain in the front left. Vet told us to do shockwave. We did 4 rounds, horse did become sound again but then reinjuried it a month after we brought him back to work. Ultrasound really never showed anything, we had to do Nuc Med test and the proximal suspensory highlighted. Not saying it doesn't work but really didn't for us. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1074
| I couldn't justify the expense with the no real proof that it worked. My daughter's mare strained a suspensory. One vet swore by it, got a second opinion. Second vet is not a fan of fancy treatments. He said that you don't know if the body healed the injury or if the treatment helped. Needless to say, we did not do the treatment. |
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Member
Posts: 9
| We've had good results with SW therapy, but not by itself. We gave 3-4 months of stall rest, and it was 4-5 treatments, and we also have an infrared laser pad that we still utilize on that area as well as others. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 456
Location: SW MO | I had one treatment done after 2 weeks of stall rest, then two weeks later (today) I had a second round of SW done. He had 10 days of DMSO/Furacin under a cotton wrap then we switched to super green liniment. He is hand walked 2x daily. The fluid went down after the first treatment and today when we did the second he did not appear sore. I am planning to do one more in 2 weeks and then a follow up ultrasound. I just want to give him the best possible odds of recovering. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | As I understand it the shockwave just deadens the nerves to the area for a short period of time which allows the horse to continue to flex the ligaments normally. Otherwise sometimes they will shorten their movement, thereby shortening the ligament which doesn't allow it to heal properly.
As far as I was told the shockwave itself doesn't assist in healing it just helps lessen the pain so the horse continues to stand and flex normally. They also recommend that the horse be on hard surface and on stall rest so not to further aggravate the injury.
I did it on the recommendation of a lameness expert for my horse who had a lower hind suspensory injury. |
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 I Don't Brag
Posts: 6960
| I was told by my vet that not only is there an analgesic affect from treatments , but it helps the fibers in the tendon align correctly, more so than with rest and traditional treatment.
From personal experience I would try it in a heartbeat. I had an on going injury to my thumb and was facing surgery. I had SW on it and not only did I get some immediate relief but it healed up thereafter with NO surgery. My BIL had the same results to a tendon/ligament injury of his arm that incapacitated him for several years. Was considering surgery and I convinced him to try SW. Again, stellar results, not only immediately but still, years later. So am not relying on observation of my horse but of my own body. Not saying that it is a fix for everything but certainly an excellent tool. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 456
Location: SW MO | Thank you all for the replies! the fluid is continuing to go down. I am praying for good results because PRP or Stem cell isn't available to me. I appreciate all the input! |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | shockwave is good for proximal suspensory desmitis because you can't really put PRP or stem cells there. They have to have a core lesion, or hole, in the ligament for them to really work. So for proximal suspensory disease, especially when it looks OK on ultrasound (which is common with PSD because of the makeup of the suspensory ligament and the location of it on the leg), shockwave is a pretty good treatment to use other than stall rest. We typically do a round of treatment once a week for three weeks. But remember- there most likely is suspensory damage so you should treat them like they are rehabbing from a core lesion. Restricted turn out, controlled exercise, follow ups with the vet. ESWT (shockwave) will make them feel better pretty fast, but ligaments heal slowly. So we don't recommend shock waving to get you through a weekend with a sore horse, it should be a rehab modality. |
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 Schnoodle Lover
Posts: 2987
Location: **Cactus Country down in South Texas*** | I've had great results with Shockwave |
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