322 CHAPTER 41. 



in the neighbourhood of other true joints. The hock however and fetlock 

 are the common seat of bursal enlargements. 



645. Treatment of Bursal Enlargements. 



The utility or otherwise of treating a Bursal enlargement depends 

 mainly on the cause, from which the swelling arises in the particular 

 case. 



Those which are due to the effect of work, concussion, and such like 

 causes, though they may be temporarily got rid of by the means hereafter 

 detailed, will generally reappear as soon as the horse is again subjected 

 to the causes which originally induced them. 



Those, however, which have arisen from the effect of accidental sprains 

 of ligaments of joints, or of tendons are not equally liable to reappear, 

 if they can once be reduced, because the causes are not equally likely to 

 recur. 



Rest in either case is the primary requisite. Rest will allay the 

 irritation in the part affected ; and with the cessation of the inflammatory 

 action which produced it, the increased secretion will soon cease. Fric- 

 tion and pressure, by rousing the action of the blood-vessels and absorb- 

 ents of the part, will also assist nature to take up the extra secretion. 



A sweating bandage, that is a wet bandage covered with oiled skin, 

 and this again covered with an ordinary flannel bandage, has often a 

 great effect in reducing the enlargement. In the hock arid in some other 

 parts, which cannot be conveniently bandaged, pressure may sometimes 

 be successfully applied by means of a carefully adjusted elastic steel truss. 

 This will often answer well for thorough-pin. In cases, however, of bog 

 spavin an india-rubber bandage with a hole in it, through which the 

 joint of the hock may pass or project, will be most convenient. In the 

 case of windgalls, small pads of india-rubber may be placed on the bursse 

 and pressure applied by wet linen or chamois leather bandages. Horses 

 showing much wear of this kind derive great good from the use of cold 

 water conducted through an india-rubber tube from the tap. If labour 

 can be spared, brisk hand rubbing should follow, and in any case loose 

 woollen bandages should be applied. 



645&. Dry pressure bandages. 



" Dry pressure bandages " are applied so as to give pressure on re- 

 cessed surfaces. The ordinary bandage fails in this respect. For instance, 

 the ordinary bandage round the leg in case of sprain of the Suspensory 

 Ligament, which lies in the- channel formed by the two splint bones, does 

 not give pressure where pressure is really needed. In " dry pressure " 

 bandages these hollows are filled with pledgets of wool or fine tow, and 

 thus pressure is brought to bear on the seat of sprain. These bandages, 

 after brisk hand rubbing, have also an excellent effect in reducing Bursal 

 enlargements and those arising from old sprains, particularly those that 

 fill after work, as more .pressure by the pledgets is brought to bear 

 directly on the implicated parts than is the case with the ordinary 



