Saturday, April 25, 2015

Understanding What Navicular Pain Is About And Possible Treatments

By Alta Alexander


Re-occurring set of signs is what is called syndrome. The other name used for navicular pain is navicular syndrome. This condition mostly affects horses. A horse with this syndrome can be nursed and treated back to its initial level of performance. Most horse owners tend to believe that horses suffering from this disorder are useless but this is not true. Timely diagnosis is crucial for efficient treatment.

Identification of the cause is based on both clinical symptoms and radiographic photos. Looking for signs imply the vet focuses on all that is visible during inspection while radiographic photos involve collecting information from x-rays photos. The photos are essential as they assist in ruling out other likely causes of lameness. During examination the experts goes for unique signs such as if the animals land on their heels in place of toes.

Quarterhorses and thoroughbreds breeds are suffer most from this condition, even though other breeds also suffer from this condition. The two breeds are susceptible to navicular disorders as they are heavyweights supported by relatively tiny feet. This results in them exerting excess pressure on their forelimbs. The disorder is prevalent at 14 to 7 years, even though it can develop at any stage.

Physical signs include one hoof being relatively smaller than its opposite front counterpart. This comes about as a result of the animal bearing less or no pressure on that hoof for a long time. The other reason for contracted hoof is poor blood circulation. When standing affected animals usually shift their weight continuously. By doing so they relieve pressure, which causes pain on the heel regions. Placing weight on toes contributes to lameness appearance in the shoulders.

A hoof tester is used together with other techniques. The tool puts strain over the frog areas and the horse winces because of pain if the hooves are diseased. The medic notes the response of the horse when the tester is applied on its fore and back limbs. The other technique is about injecting anesthesia, which temporarily stops pain. The pain might be originating from navicular parts should the animal walk in normal manner after injection were it was previously lame.

There are many ways of rectifying the problem according to the degree of infection. Isoxsuprine is commonly administered under drug therapy. It expands or widens blood vessels causing better blood circulation to the troubled parts. There are higher chances of most horses responding to this treatment. Isoxsuprine functions for a particular duration after which it is administered again.

Unresponsive cases can be tackled using chemical blocking agents as the expense of surgery. The agent makes the nerve under question useless for a period between 4 to 2 months. It is given periodically at the same spot to animals that are unresponsive to drug therapy. It is advised to delay surgery as long as possible because of further complications connected with it.

In conclusion, this disorder is highly treatable but does not leave once it sets in. Navicular disease is caused by combined factors including trauma and decreased blood circulation among others. Horse owners have to do their best to protect then from developing this disorder. They should avoid overfeeding them. They ought to make sure the shoeing is correct and seek advice from professionals whenever in doubt.




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