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RE: [RC] poultice? how does it work? - Snodgrass, BonnieI learned two types of poulticing when I worked as a race track groom. One type is heating and is covered by plastic wrap, the other is cooling and is covered with heavy brown paper. Heating Poultice: Typically this will be either a Numotizine poultice (imagine a thick, sticky paste that has liniment like properties) or a Furacin sweat. Either one is applied fairly thickly and rubbed into the hair to get good skin contact. Plastic is then wrapped over the goop. I don't use plastic wrap which is too flimsy and wads up easily. I like to use a heavier plastic, like a cut open bread bag. The plastic is then covered with a quilt. The quilt should be thick but firm. Not one of those fluffy spongy quilts or one of thos thin skimpy things. The idea here is to have a firm solid wrap on the leg. Then a decent standing bandage should be used to wrap the whole thing. By the way, those narrow, short cotton knit bandages are not really appropriate for wrapping legs. They should be used to wrap tails. They are too narrow and too short. A good standing wrap bandage is 5-6" wide and about 12' long. That's right, 12 feet. Again, the idea is to be able to start at the top of the cannon, wrap downward, each turn overlapping the turn before, down over the ankle and back up to the top. Should be very solid feeling, like a soft cast. The furcin sweat can really take filling out of legs but neither of these heating poultices should be used over a new injury that still has heat in it. The furacin sweat is very useful over a bad case of scratches that has caused the legs to fill. It will take the filling down and soften all the scabs so they will wash off easily. Cooling Poultice: This is a clay type poultice. Some come ready to use, some are a dry powder that you need to wet. I like to have a very wet and soft clay. If it is too dry I use apple cider vinegar to make it sloppier. You can add a little alum to help with the osmosis too. Again, put it on very thick, rubbing it into the skin. I make a solid layer of clay molded over the leg. Cut open a paper grocery bag or use the outer layer of paper from a feed sack. Cut a rectangle of paper long enough to go around the leg at least twice and slightly wider than the quilt you use. If you are going to be wrapping down over the ankle and pastern then make short slits into the paper along one long side so the paper will adjust to the bend of the ankle/pastern. Goop up the leg, soak the paper in a bucket of water, then wrap the clay with the paper, then quilt, then bandage. The paper slowly dries out, the clays slowly dries out and the evaporation has a cooling effect rather than a heating effect. The drying clay draws fluid from the leg and cools the leg. Once it is dry then heat will build up under the bandages. This is why you want the clay and paper really wet, so the process of drying happens slowly. Remove the bandages and wash the poultice off within 12 hours maximum. I have seen the clay alone used with no wraps what so ever. It would draw and cool until it dries but the drying time is much shorter. That's what I was taught, by some old time grooms. I'm sure it's not all there is. Probably the furacin sweat is one of the handiest things to know for scratches. Bonnie Snodgrass -----Original Message----- From: Lucy Chaplin Trumbull [mailto:elsie@xxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2003 11:58 PM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] poultice? how does it work? I have a [probably stupid] question about poultice. How does it work? <sheepish> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= http://www.endurance.net/ads/seabiscuit.html Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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