The Truth about Leg Bandaging

Bandaging

Bandaging your horse. Think it's easy? Well there's a lot more to it than meets the eye.

A myriad of options open up when you begin to look into the topic, such as various ways of bandaging, which of the thousands of material to use, and dressing - which is tricky depending on the product you want to use.

Bandaging is an art and a science

So here is a helpful guide to make the whole process a little easier to get through.

The Why

Generally speaking, bandages are used to support tendons and ligaments, prevent or lessen swelling, protect from injury, act as a barrier against contamination and to help the healing process.

There are three aspects to bandaging - the bandage itself, the dressing and sometimes a poultice or wound dressing.

The Bandage

The bandage is simply a piece of material, often elasticised, designed to support a dressing or splint. Modern designs have seen horse owners doing away with trying to tape or pin the bandage to the horse in favour of an adhesive style that sticks neatly to itself.

How to get unstuck in applying bandages:

Horse with legs bandaged

They can end up being:

• Too loose
• Too tight
• Unevenly wrapped

This can lead to:

• The bandage moving out of place
• Putting pressure on the tissue and cutting off circulation
• Or if uneven, putting too much pressure in one place and not enough in another.

The Dressing

Dressings (or paddings) are made from two types of material. Be careful not to be confused with wound care topicals - also called dressings.

The purpose of the dressing is to give a protective layer of padding to avoid irritation caused by the outer elastic bandage.

The most popular dressing is flannel or cotton leg quilts, which provides lovely soft support on the horse and are reusable. Also used are sheet cotton or rolled cotton. Other types are also sold, so look around at what is best for you.

The other type of dressing is material for covering a wound or stopping bleeding. What you need here is something sterile, breathable and encourages a moist healing environment. It reduces infection and helps the injury heal more quickly and reduces scarring.

Materials for dressings are readily available to buy, and good news if you a mum of a newborn as nappies provide great absorbency as a wound dressing!

The Prep Work

A variety of medications are available to help speed healing, so the best advice is to talk with your vet about what is right for your horse before applying anything.

The Poultice

The poultice is used to relieve inflammation - usually targeting treatment on tendons. Sometimes it is used to prevent heat and filling after hard work, such as a race or cross country ride. It can also be used to treat wounds and abscesses by drawing out a pus build-up or abscess.

(Note: A hot poultice increases circulation, a cold one decreases inflammation)

Many horse owners use a "sweating" poultice to reduce a build-up of fluid. These often include ingredients such as DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide), nitrofurazone, petroleum jelly (Vaseline), glycerine, Epsom salts and/or mineral oil.

If you choose to make your own poultice remember to dilute DMSO as it can cause skin damage.

When using a poultice under a bandage, place a layer of underwrap, such as soaked brown paper bags and/or a layer of plastic wrap over the poultice. Then use an overlayer of soft padded dressing, followed by the bandage.

The rule of thumb is to consult with your vet if your horse has a wound that needs dressing.

Bandage Type

Ensure your safety first.

The most common type of equine bandage is the stable, or standing bandage. It's used on the lower legs of the horse - which is also the most common area of a horse to need bandaging.

When to Bandage

You first need to work out if the bandage is to keep down swelling or to keep a wound treatment in place. You also need to determine if it is an open wound, if it is hot and soft and if there is swelling.

Always check with your vet if you have any doubt as there may be other treatments that are also needed to heal the wound. Sometimes the dressing type will change with the healing process.

The inflammatory stage comprises the first 6 hours after injury, the debridement phase is 6 to 12 hours post-injury, the repair phase--when cells begin to form and later tissue forms - occurs about three days post-injury, and finally the maturation phase begins.

Each stage offers up different challenges.

Initial Stage: You need a dressing that that absorbs drainage and will even stick to the wound to help get rid of toxins and dead tissue. This also helps the debridement stage.

Repair Stage: Non-adherent dressings are better as they absord drainage but don't interfere with the development of new tissue.

And because tendon and ligament injuries have different stages of healing, it's important to continually evaluate the healing process and adjust the treatment used. Talking with your vet is critical during this process.

Perfection is in the Details

A well-applied bandage should look neat, even, and finished. Don't be afraid to practice and make sure you learn how to bandage from someone who knows what they're doing.

Some Final Tips

Some bandages can be very difficult to apply.

• Remove dirt, debris, soap residue, or moisture to prevent skin irritation and dermatitis.
• Start with clean, dry legs and bandages.
• Use a thickness of an inch or more of soft, clean padding to protect the leg beneath the bandage.
• Apply padding so it lies flat and wrinkle-free against the skin.
• Start the wrap at the inside of the cannon bone above the fetlock joint. Do not begin or end over a joint as movement will tend to loosen the bandage and cause it to become unwrapped.
• Wrap the leg from front to back, outside to inside (counterclockwise in left legs, clockwise in right legs).
• Wrap in a spiral pattern, working down the leg and up again, overlapping the preceding layer by 50%.
• Use smooth, uniform pressure on the support bandage to compress the padding. Make sure no lumps or ridges form beneath the bandage.
• Check bandages daily to make sure they are securely in place and not cutting off circulation.
• Rewrap the leg every one to two days to minimize the chance of circulation problems caused by slippage or skin irritation due to dirt or debris entering the bandages.

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