magnetic boots - and DJD or tendon ?

cvb

cvb

Active Member
Oct 23, 2001
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Ok - there was something on "NR... and how it is changing"
http://www.newrider.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=111306

commenting that us oldies shouldn't comment on the lack of "get your teeth into" posts if we don't start anything ;)

so - a passing comment from a non-horsey person (yeah I know, spot the lack of logic) made me wonder about magnetic treatment for DJD.

My mare has DJD in her near hock. She's had adequan injections and is on Synequin. So I suspect I may be in "throw it at the wall and see what sticks" mode, but does anyone have any comments on success or otherwise of magnetic boots ?

plus the DJD seems to be making a front leg more susceptible to strain - would magnets help there at all ?

the scientist in me struggles to see how it can make any sense relating to degenerative changes in a joint, though perhaps if it does improve blood flow, it could help both arthritis *and* tendon pulls ?

thoughts ? experiences ?
 
i use tendon boots regularly on my elderly mare who has had tendon prblems and a fractured joint in the past - she is also on synequin (which i think is great - im sure its that keeping her sound!)

i do think they help, they certainly do something, as when you take them off the leg is really warm and any swelling/puffiness has gone. they definatly seem to increase blood flow which i can only see as being a good thing for any damaged area as it is needed to aid healing.:)

i cant so a definate yay or nay as to if they work because as i said i also use the synequin. i was sceptical at first but love them now. its definatly worth giving them ago.:)
 
mm - I guess you would have to do a blind test as to whether a normal boot raised the temp as much as a magnetic boot ?

(I know they have done research on how normal boots can affect the core temp of the leg)
 
Hi CVB

I don't know much about DJD. CW 'only' had spavin and I was told it would spread to the other hock. He would have to have 6 monthly injections (off insurance due to the gorgeous E&L who shafted me, but that's another story:rolleyes: ) for that and a back problem... he was 7! I was running through the options - early retirement, expensive treatment etc...

I did the same thing.. grasped onto anything that could help and looked into alternative therapies. So MORE money was shelled out on a pair of magnetic boots (and this was a good 7/8 years ago), not afraid to be poo poo-ed by other liveries as this was rather new and a bit 'kookie' at the turn of the century (sorry, have never said that and have always wanted to! :D )

Didn't think it would work, but continued anyway. Two weeks later I took him into the school to lightly lunge to see how he was moving and flipping lo and flipping behold, there he was... tracking up beautifully! Everyone could see the difference, so I was converted! Animals don't lie.. if they are feeling better they are feeling better. Dog now has a collar for his oncoming athritis and he's still beating the horse at canter out on rides, at 11 (but he has always been fit - is a lab though, so his ongoing fitness is still a surprise)

So I would say, if you can swallow the cost and you want to try anything you can, you may very well see a difference with the boots. They promote self healing by getting the blood flowing. Who knows.. I am sold on it myself as I have been lucky enough to get good results. Would be interested to hear what others' experience has been to get a truer version of 'reality'... :rolleyes:

(oh and in 7/8 years, the problem DIDN'T move into his other hock as portended and his movement is just fine. Never been lame since. Still stiff in the back a bit but nowhere near as bad... his back is a bit long..:p . He also has a 'movement' natural supplement with devil's claw )
 
I recently purchased some magnetic hock boots to try on my horse and I am convinced they do help.He is 16 and recently sprained his hock out hacking.Using the magnetic boots has certainly seemed to improve his soundness and reduced the swelling.Mine are the neodymium ones which are supposed to be the best ones to use and he wears them for a few hours each day.I paid £30 for them on ebay and was a little sceptical about them but I would definitely use magnets again if I felt they may be helpful.
 
I bought some magnetic tendon wraps (bioflow) when Monty had his tendon sheath injury last year - clutching at straws:rolleyes: . But I got conflicting advice both on here and from 2 vets as to whether they might make the problem worse be increasing the blood flow, not better. So I half heartedly used them a couple of times, then worried too much and left them off:p

Since then however, he was pronounced healed by the vets last October. His leg still had some residual puffiness which would increase after exercise, obviously a big worry to me even though the vet assured me this was fine.

I decided to start using the boots again to see if they could help. Withing 2-3 weeks of using them every day for a couple of hours, his leg, which had been at best, slightly soft and at worse, puffy so that the whole line of the tendon could no longer be seen, went back to how it used to be prior to injury. And has stayed that way since, clear, defined tendons with no puffiness.

I can't guarantee it was the boots, might have happened anyway, but after 7 months of it being constanly puffy, I think the boots must have had an effect. I'd certainly use them again for tendon problems, and have since lent them to a friend who's horse has all sorts of leg issues, inflammation of the navicular bursa, deep flexor tendon swelling, possible pedal osteitis.....She firmly believes that along with the conventional treatments, the magnet boots had a great effect in pain relief and healing....

Who knows - but I'm a convert:)
 
The only comment I would make is that magnetic boots do not increase blood flow. Even if magnetic therapy did increase blood flow, the magnet strength in horse clothing, people clothing etc is infinitesimally small compared to for example, the magnets used in MRI scanners (which do not increase blood flow either).

I think you will find normal boots will help just as much as magnetic boots.
 
I had a horse that had bone spavin in her hocks, I got two magnetic boots quite high Gauss (sp?) rating, I really do think they helped and to be honest so did the vets, she went on a drug trial (Tildren) and was the most improved horse they had on the trial at Cambridge Vet Hospital :D I wasnt allowed to feed any joint supplements on the trial, but I was allowed to use the boots towards the end.
I also used them after exercise with her after she had an accident in the trailer, if I put "normal" boots on her leg would still swell, if I used the magnetic boots then her leg didnt swell?
I got mine for a very reasonable price off ebay :D they fit hock, knee or as a normal cannon bone/tendon boot.
still have the web address for the shop if your interested ;)

Pickle is only young but I will be using them on him at any sign of a strain or anything, its the one thing that I always make sure I know where they are.
 
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When Bo was off last year with his stifle injury my friend gave me some magnet pads, they can be velcro'ed onto rugs or under bandages.
Bo came sound quicker than expected, though that could have been to do with many things that we were doing. Then he got lami, so after the initial problem I used them as a just in case thing - even charging round like a twit in the field etc he was back in full work in 6 weeks.
I took Jess for a lesson a while back, 1 hour 15 mins there in the trailer, then an hours lesson (hard work for her) and the journey home, the next day or two she seemed a little stiff and her legs fractionally puffy, I guess it was all a bit of a shock to her system :rolleyes: so I put the magnetsx on for about 5 hours under bandages, she seemed to improve pretty quickly during that time and we didn't need to re-apply the next day.
Saturday morning Jess rolled and got her legs through the post and rail fence, she skinned down her hock and by sat lunchtime that leg was puffy, I put the magnets on for an hour before bed and sunday morning she was looking much better and was 100% sound for our show :D
So thats my horsey experiances with them, not sure what they do but they do seem to help :eek: Personally I tried a bracelet some years ago (I have RSI in my wrists) and after a few hours I started feeling really ill - dizzy sicky tyoe stuff. I took the bracelet off and within about 30 minutes felt better - so I know it was doing something it just wasn't for me (I also get ill from MRI and it felt like a milder version of that hense making the connection).
I would give it a try, see if you can borrow some or get some off ebay or something and go from there :p
 
cvb said:
Yes please - if it is a simialr price still, its worth trying !
Click to expand...
the site itself is
www.equimagnets.co.uk/
and the boots I have are
"UNIVERSAL MAGNETIC , TENDON, KNEE & HOCK BOOT WRAPS"
I bought a pair to cover strain on the other leg too :)

they are a bit cheaper over ebay ;)
Pair of equimagnet boots ending soon
Pair of equimagnet boots ending 4 days
Pair of equimagnet boots, buy it now

I am not actually on commission ;) just bored lol Ebay is great for insomniacs, though the amount of sales they have had through my recommendations I should be
 
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