Re: [RC] facial paralysis due to twitching the nose - Beth Walker
Yes - I've heard of this happening. ?I'm pretty sure one of my old horse care books mentions it (I recall seeing a picture), but I would have to check to be sure. ?I have no personal experience with it , however, here is a link to an article about tying horses safely. ?It is on the NASD (National Ag Safety Database) web site.
About 3/4 of the way down, there is a short paragraph saying that trying to move a horse around by means of a twitch, or using one for more than 15 minutes can cause numbness, or in extreme cases permanent nerve damage. ?It is only a short paragraph, but there appears to be the potential of permanent nerve damage. ?I am guessing, but I imagine that there can be various levels of damage, and they just mentioned the two extremes.
My only personal experience with nerve damage (mine) was when I got my wisdom teeth out. ?I had a numb spot on my lower jaw -- had it for years, but somewhere along the line, it slowly went away. ?So -- it was "long term" damage, but ended up not being permanent.
On Jul 13, 2007, at 1:05 PM, Mary Maynard wrote:
Hello Ride campers ?I would like to? hear other people's experiences with this issue. About three months ago my mare; Gift of grace and I were on a training ride. It was a windy day and she spooked and I flew off and she tore thru the woods all the way back to my place (about 7 miles). She had to cross pavement 3 times. She had shoes on and slipped and fell. Needless to say she had a wound to her rear fetlock - where she tore out a hunk of skin down to the tendon. I called the vet and we decided I could care for it at home so for 4 weeks I wrapped it etc and it just kept producing proud flesh. I took her to the vet and they cut all the proud flesh out and sutured her up. ? ?Now this is the problem: when they sutured her, they twitched her. I got her home to find her face is paralyzed from the nostril down and it twists to one side. I am almost positive that I have heard of this before?yet my vet says she has never heard of this happening with a twitch. She is on oral cortisone and topical too -?but only a 2% improvement in the last two weeks. Have any of you had this happen to your horses? Was progress made, in other words did the paralysis go away? Do you have any suggestions? Her wound is now healed but her face is a mess; of course I am upset to see her like this as she is a lovely mare and now her face is twisted. Thanks for any help suggestions you can share?that can improve her chances for a normal face again. PS ?she does have more trouble eating as her lips don't work right! Sincerely Mary Anne Maynard my email address is luvmares at hotmail.com
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