Thank you for correcting the text in this article. Your corrections improve Papers Past searches for everyone. See the latest corrections.

This article contains searchable text which was automatically generated and may contain errors. Join the community and correct any errors you spot to help us improve Papers Past.

Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

SPRAINS OR STRAINS.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TENDONS ARE OVERTAXED.

(Written for the Daily Advertiser by

H. Williamson,

V.S.E.D.).

If the nature of sprains and strains were more generally understood much time would be saved in the treatment and recovery from such accidents.

Generally speaking, the farmer and hbrseman who has been knocking about amongst horses all his life sbiould know or ascertain approximately the region where the trouble occurs, because there is heat, pain, and swelling, although the last-nam-ed symptom may not occur at the moment of stretching or falling lame. Tendons are in the nature of ropes, extending fifom muscles, and are inelastic. They should not stretch any more than a well-season-ed rope; indeed, they resemble one in their structure, being made up of many strands. Smdoth in themselves, they are also accommodated by oiled sheaths, through which they work without friction, so long as the sheaths and bursae, or little oil glands, function properly. Ligaments, while consisting of very similar material, are more in the nature of stays lor “guys,” and not as a rule provided with a lubricant.

Infl u ence of Conformation. The horse of perfect conformation (if, indeed, one is ever found) is almost immune to the accident of sprain, although he may put out the utmost of his strength in attempting an impossibly task. It -mould be more correct to say that certain departures from the ideal conformation render the animal nl ore liable to strains or sprains, Too much length between the knee and pasterns, or from the hock to the pastern—the opposite of the do-called auctioneer’s description of “on short legs,” are a source of weakness, as are long pasterns and tied-in tendons under the knee, and so often happens to an animal of the heavy breeds crossed by a blood horse, is another weakness. There are many degrees of unfitness to bear the strain of work, and some unsuitable subjects escape the looked-for consequences of their conformation by reason of the care they take of themselves. Like mules, they seem to know just how big a |oad they can pull, and decline to put themselves in danger; or they may never have been called upon to take risks.

Defects in Tendons. It is, however, beyond dispute that such defects as named above do result in sprain, and the wise purchaser will shun the type, although the subject may be sound at the time offered. There is a conformation, too, which does not come under either of the above-named defects, which predisposes to sprain, the tendons being thick, and the joints small. This applies more particularly to what are commonly known as the “back tendons” (the perforaus and perforatus and the check ligament), and most readily recognised by a good horseman, who is not a veterinary surgjqn. The stoutness of a tendon is no measure of its strength, for it often is a feature in horses with much soft tissue and thick skin, and a difficulty of clearly defining the tendon by handling the ‘gummy-legged” in a word and the opposite of the clean, hard, welloutlined ones of the blood horse, which are vastly stronger than their proportions would indicate Rupture of Strands.

What actually takes place in a strained tendon is the breaking or rupture of some of the strands which make up the rope. The effusion that follows, perhaps in a few minutes, but more often during the night following, is what gives rise to the swelling. Seeing that these ropes are hard and should be well defined, whether in the unbroken colt or the seasoned worker, it does not occur to the owner that, like all other parts of the body, they need to be conditioned or in a state of vigorous health; yet it is well known to veterinary surgeons that quite trifling causes will cause strain in debilitated animals, such as those recovering from influenza and strangles. This is one of many reasons why the business of colt-breaking should be proceeded with gently, and the lessons be not too long, or the. convalescent put into the team as you see daily done here ir> do his bit like the rest and suit the convenience of the teamster or farmer.

Broken fibres are net joined together again in the course of repair, but the space is filled up with deposits not possessed of the same qualities, and mismanaged strains leave permanent and disfiguring enlargements, although the subject may not again go lame.

Many slight sprains that do not cause marked lameness are disregarded by many people, and the animal is kept at work. The result is the breaking away of another and another “stitch” but not always and in all subjects. Some mature animals have an inherent capacity for repair, for which the credit is given to some patent linament or qther medicament. and if the work is light the mending process during the night is just a little more than the rending during the day. There is something more in this than is generally recognised by surgeons, but most will agree that a blacksmith with sprained wrist, and who keeps on with his job, makes as good recovery as he who goes to the doctor.

Lines of Treatment. Two very opposite lines of treatment are adopted for sprains and with a large measure of success. | This is quite easy of explanation, | rest for absorption of the effusion, and the repair of the damage, cold i effusion, and if repairs are to be efI feeted it must be through the medium of a circulation that can be increased by outward applications. The blood vessels in the immediate vicinity of a strained tendon will be full, and felt to be throbbing. In the tendon itself these are not present in the form of actual arteries or veins. It is bringing of building material tio the spot from which the injured member may select as much as required. The skin is thickened, and affords pressure and support. The final outward applications gives the skin the support above mentioned fibr quite a considerable time, and if repeated, leaves it permanently thickened and strengthened, while in its final stage it excites absorption of unnecessary materials left behind when the repairs have been effected—just as the builder would cart away a surplus.

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WDA19240322.2.12

Bibliographic details

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume XXIV, 22 March 1924, Page 4

Word Count
1,049

SPRAINS OR STRAINS. Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume XXIV, 22 March 1924, Page 4

SPRAINS OR STRAINS. Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume XXIV, 22 March 1924, Page 4

Help

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert