Treating Common Horse Leg Injuries: Ice and Compression for Pain Relief

Common horse leg injuries include those involving the deep digital flexor tendon, suspensory ligament and the superficial digital flexor tendon. Treating these injuries quickly is key to recovery, and providing timely pain relief is important. This article outlines how using ice and compression together can help provide your horse with pain relief in the event of a leg injury.

Note: This article is not a substitute for veterinary advice or treatment.

Cold Therapy for Pain Relief

Cold therapy is already used to provide pain relief to humans. Many of us are familiar with using ice packs to reduce swelling after injuries. Cold therapy, otherwise known as cryotherapy, is proven to provide pain relief. This is because it decreases nerve conduction velocity. Essentially, icing constricts the blood vessels and decreases circulation to the area. 

Reducing the blood flow to the injured area can reduce the inflammation and swelling that causes pain. This is particularly important around a joint or tendon. Furthermore, cryotherapy can temporarily reduce nerve activity, which can also relieve pain. 

The same principles apply when your horse sustains an injury. Cryotherapy helps to reduce painful swelling and inflammation, hence it is important to ice as soon as possible after an injury. 

Using Ice with Compression to Treat Horse Leg Injuries

If your horse injures his or her leg, applying our cooling boots as soon as possible afterwards can help to reduce the pain. Our cooling boots for horses are particularly beneficial because they effectively harness the power of both ice and compression. This is because the compression allows better cold transfer to the affected area. 

Other Benefits of Icing After Common Horse Leg Injuries

Icing can potentially reduce recovery time. This is because it reduces blood flow and fluid accumulation in the area. This can in turn help to reduce long-term swelling. 

Using cryotherapy during the rehabilitation process can also be beneficial. Newly repaired tissues can be at risk of inflammation, particularly as the horse is being brought back into work. Using cold therapy during rehabilitation can help reduce the chance of re-injury. Furthermore, it can also prevent new injuries from occurring. 

Using Ice and Compression for Pain Relief Post-Exercise

Applying our cooling boots for horses after a hard exercise session can help to reduce soreness in the lower leg. Some horses will even doze off when using Cryochaps! Use our cooling boots after every hard workout to give your horse some well-deserved relief. Cryochaps are available to purchase via our shop as a single boot, pair or quad set.