Treating Race Horse Injuries: Part Two, Cold Therapies
In our last article we talked about the treatment of Standardbred race horse injuries utilizing hot therapies such as ultrasound, whirlpools, hot towels and magnets. This article will focus on the value of cold therapy, and how it applies to harness horse ailments.
Cold therapy (Cryotherapy) for race horse injuries comes in a variety of forms, such as commercial ice packs, ice cubes, and cold water bandages. Many old-time horsemen can relate stories of standing horses in a creek to treat a bowed tendon, or of turning a horse out in a three-foot deep snow paddock to treat a lower leg problem.
Cold therapy such as ice or cold water causes vasoconstriction, thus reducing inflammation and helping to remove pain from an injured area. The cold also decreases fluid that may leak from the local capillaries, thereby limiting edema in the traumatized tissues. Additionally, it also decrases tissue metabolism, resulting in blood being driven away from the affected areas.
Ice is one of the cheapest and most effective forms of treating injuries in race horses, as well as in human atheletes. The use of ice massage or ice packs results in a decreased need for injected or oral medications, and is quite effective during the first 48 hours after an injury has occurred.
Trainers sometimes soak bandages in a bucket of ice water to provide a form of cold water therapy after routine exercise to prevent inflammation and swelling. Often times they will also have their horses stand in a bucket of ice water to help take the pain out of stinging, tired feet.
The most common injuries that respond well to cold therapy are splints, hematomas and tendinitis in the Standardbred and bucked shins, which are much more common with Thoroughbred race horses. As with any injury, however, a thorough evaluation by a veterinarian is necessary to insure the proper therapy, either hot or cold, be appropriate.
Over the years, studies have shows that a "Wet" therapy is more effective than a "dry" therapy. Thus, many horsemen will use cold water bandages on their horse to reduce skin temperature and aid in the healing process. The benefits of the cold water can be achieved without freezing the tissues, as prolonged exposure to cold in an area can just as harmful as it can be theraputic.
Most veterinarians will recommend that ice applications longer than 30 minutes should be avoided. Hours of continuous ice applications does not increase the effectiveness of tissue cooling and in fact, when a horse is exposed to a cold therapy that is too long or too cold, it can produce intense pain to the area. With cold therapy, more is not always necessarily better.
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