DIY make your own comfrey poultice

In an attempt to get the swelling on Basse's leg to go down as quickly as possible and to help what I suspect is either a knock or a tendon injury, I've been making him comfrey poultices. We use poultices to draw out any infection and to reduce inflammation and now that I'm fearing that he has some sort of ligament or tendon injury this time I am using comfrey. 

Comfrey (sometimes knows as 'knit bone') is a well-known healing herb with great capacity to heal tissue and bone as it contains allantoin, which promotes the growth of connective tissue, bone and cartilage. I know that it's also been used for dealing with a variety of problems such as cuts, sprains and strains, fractures, swelling and heat/inflammation. I've been feeding comfrey to Vallu for over a year now and I think it's one of the reasons why his ligament injury healed so well. But since it is easily absorbed through the skin, I thought this was the perfect time to start helping Basse's leg with a comfrey poultice especially since we have TONS of comfrey growing in our garden! 🌿

You can easily make your own poultices with fresh comfrey - you just need hot water, fresh comfrey leaves, scissors, a small bowl, a cloth of some sort, clingfilm and a bandage.

1. Cut the comfrey leaves into small pieces and pour a small amount of boiling water over them. I used way too much the first time I did this, don't make the same mistake as me! 

2. Let the comfrey is softened until the water has cooled down so that you can  handle it and it won't burn the horse's skin. 

3. Open up the cloth and place the comfrey on it and spread out the comfrey in the approximate shape and size needed for use . This takes some practise! Then fold the cloth in half enclosing the comfrey.

3. Apply the poultice to the area that needs it, put clingfilm on top of it and then wrap lightly with a bandage just to secure the poultice in its place. Some people do leave the poultice on overnight but I prefer to have it on for several hours during the day, after turning out in the morning.

Basse is very good with the squeaky clingfilm and lets me put it straight on him, but for a more noise sensitive creature I would cut a piece of clingfilm ready beforehand

This has been really good for brining the swelling down as within 48 hours his leg is starting to look more normal, there is still some swelling but it's gone down a lot (please be a knock and not a tendon injury! 🙏🏻) I have also been using ice boots to help with the swelling too, so I can't say for certain whether it is one or the other that is helping him more but I prefer trying to do my everything to help him feel better.

(BTW: this blog post is for informational purposes only and is in no way meant to replace medical advice from your vet. Please always consult with your vet!)