I feel like I've been sharing TOO much of my feet :-)
Acute injury/contusion to the calf muscle, swelling within the muscle belly..
secondary edema and pain as the fluid/old blood shifts down the limb
So HOW best do you treat such a thing?
This is directly applicable to your pets if they have sudden injuries
RICE acronym
1. Rest- get off the leg, stop your dog from chasing the
ball
2. Ice- applying ICE is more important than I ever imagined. The following day while waiting in emergency, I iced the leg for approx 2 hours, and this gave me IMMENSE relief.
It completely brought down the swelling.
Wrap the ice in a thin towel
Apply for 15-20 mins every 2-4 hours following a sudden injury.
Keep icing for the 1st 48-72 hours.
3. Compress- for our pets this can be as simple as using vetwrap ( that stretchy cling) available from any pharmacy. Here you are wrapping the affected area ( ie the knee), along with going down the leg to wrap the foot,
leaving 2 toes exposed.
The compressing will limit the amount of additional swelling, and this is a good thing. The additional swelling damages other tissue, which you want to avoid.
I didn't compress my wound enough, and NOW this is a week later, and my leg/ankle is STILL swollen ( the picture above is 7 days later..)
4. Elevate- if you can get the leg up to decrease swelling. I sort of did this..If for example your dog suddenly injures his knee, getting him on his side, and putting a pillow underneath *really* will help
Additional treatment
i. Anti-inflammatories- I 1st started with homeopathic Rhus Tox but it wasn't helping. At 11PM at night, being unable to sleep, I popped some Ibuprofen
Not safe for dogs- non of the NSAIDS are safe for cats
You can give your well hydrated dog, with good organ function, and not on other NSAIDs, Aspirin. The Dog Aspirin dose is 325mg/40lbs twice daily
ii. Topical comfrey- I have comfrey as a topical beeswax salve- it gave me some pretty immediate relief, and is safe for your pets
iii. Edema reduction. I am now taking dandelion tincture to decrease the swelling. Dose at approx 1/2ml per 10bs 2-3 times per day. It needs to be the leaves to be effective.
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