Tendon Injuries - Success Stories

Tendons consist of tissue that is made up of very strong fibrous material that groups together to form cords. When a tendon injury occurs it is due to strain or stress on the tendon, usually while exercising. There are different symptoms of tendon injuries including; heat, swelling, bruising and inflammation, however lameness may or may not always be present in tendon injuries.

Over the years there have been many developments in the treatment of tendon injuries. Most are either invasive, time consuming, expensive or involve box rest. ArcEquine on the other hand, supports and aid's the body's natural healing process using microcurrents. You can read more about microcurrents in our "What is Microcurrent?" post.

Please read below for some success stories on tendon injuries.


Pete's Story

Pebbly Paintbox (aka Pete) was voted most successful Scottish Junior Horse in 2009. Purchased by the Copestake family with view to competing in the FEI Pony Trials.  He suffered lesion damage to Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon (SDFT) and received stem cell treatment which resulted in having 2011 off, but in 2012 he started competing again.

Original Prognosis: Secondary injury in the same leg was diagnosed.  Vets considered Stem Cell treatment inappropriate and prescribed 4 weeks'box rest prior to reassessing.

Programme: Daily ArcEquine usage, progressive controlled exercise, repeated scans

Results: Scans showed that the enlargement of the tendon at the point of injury had reduced and there appeared a reduction in the presence of scar tissue, with normal fibre patterns in existence. Given that this was two years after the original injury past scans showed that these changes were recent.

And to top it off: Despite all odds, Pete has gone on to be one of the best ponies in the UK having had an outstanding eventing career curtailed through injury he has established himself as a 15h workers schoolmaster with hopefully many years ahead of him teaching young jockeys.

BLM Diamond Delux's Story

3 *** eventer 

Original Prognosis: Diamond Delux was scanned in June 2013 and had a black hole in his tendon.  In September 2013 a 2^nd scan showed not much change in the black hole.

Programme: Daily ArcEquine use was introduced in September 2013.  

Results: After 10 weeks of daily ArcEquine use a scan showed that the black hole was completely filled in.  He started back jumping in February 2014.

And to top it off: Diamond Delux’s general well being is way better and his coat is gleaming which was very hard to achieve, even with supplements.  

ArcEquine Programmes Explained

One of our most common questions is "what programme should I use?". There is often a bit of confusion about what programmes to use and how to do so.

Well ladies and gentlemen, read on and your questions will be answered!

The Programmes 

We always recommend that you first run through the following 6-week cycle in order to help the body maximise ATP production. Once the initial 6-week cycle finishes you should use programme 4 (maintenance) for a minimum of two days a month, or you can select the individual programme that best suits your horse’s condition (please see below for a description of what each programme is addressing). If there is an injury, use ArcEquine every day on the most appropriate programme. 

Every few months, we recommend running through the 6-week cycle again in order to maintain optimum results. 

Each programme lasts for 3 hours. You can’t overuse an ArcEquine, but you must rotate the device between healthy legs after each treatment to avoid it always being attached to the same place. 

Selecting a Programme

1. On/Off button – hold for 3 seconds to turn on or to turn off.
2. All four indicator lights will very quickly flash green, then red to indicate that your ArcEquine device is functioning correctly.
3. Indicator lights will then flash green corresponding with current battery charge; 1 light = 25%, 2 = 50%, 3 = 75%, 4 = 100%
4. After 3 seconds all of the lights will go out. Immediately after this, a red light will indicate which programme was last used; 1st light = P1, 2nd = P2, 3rd = P3, 4th = P4.
5. Press the left (On/Off) button quickly to skip through and select the desired programme, from P1 to P4.
6. Press the right play button to activate the selected programme. The unit will beep on activation of the selected programme.
7. Once activated, the right play button will turn either green (connected) or red (not connected).
8. The delivery unit will beep again after 3 hours to indicate that the selected programme has finished.

Equine Sarcoids

One of the many successes we have had with the ARC is dealing with of sarcoids.

What are Sarcoids?
Sarcoids are a type of benign skin tumor found in horses, often mistaken for warts. Sarcoids are caused by the bovine papillomavirus, which can be spread by flies. Some horses are immune to this virus and some can become immune over the years. However, for the horses that are not immune, it can be very difficult to get rid of as sarcoids spread quickly and easily.

How are sarcoids usually dealt with?
The general treatment for sarcoids is to contain the sarcoid rather than remove it.

Please read below for three case studies of the ArcEquine being used on horses suffering from sarcoids.

Casper's Story

Casper is a 5 year old Irish Sport Horse owned and ridden by Emma Merrick from Bodiam, East Sussex.  Casper developed a sarcoid on the upper eyelash of his right eye. This grew very quickly to protrude about 1 inch from his eye!

Vet prognosis: Sedate Casper and inject the sarcoids with anti-cancer drugs with no guarantee of success.

To avoid the injections, Emma started using the ArcEquine daily and introduced Thuja 200, a homeopathic remedy. For the first month there seemed to be no change, then the sarcoids started to grow. Within a few more weeks it had grown by at least 50%. It started to bleed a lot and was irritating Casper as he kept rubbing his eye on his leg every day, knocking the top off. The sarcoid changed from a solid wart to scabby looking.

A few weeks later, the sarcoid literally exploded, there was blood all down the side of Casper’s face, rather gruesome! However, once cleaned up there was just a small bump left. Within another few weeks this had completely gone and there was no trace of the sarcoid ever been there.

Eno's Story

Eno is a 20 year old Grand Prix Dressage Horse owned by Debbie Vincent-Cole from Maresfield, East Sussex.

Eno had three large sarcoids on his sheath of varying sizes, the largest being the size of a fist! They had been banded by the vet several times but always grew back. Eno had just had to live with them for years.

Debbie started using the Arc on Eno daily and after two months, introduced Thuja 200. After a month or so the first sarcoid changed, it started to elongate and similarly to Casper, changed from firm to scabby. It then began to look more like an open wound, sometimes bleeding. It continued to protrude and eventually was hanging on by a thread of skin! Once the sarcoid had dropped off, it took very little time to heal and within two months the first sarcoid had gone!

 *** GORY PICTURE ALERT ***

The second sarcoid began to protrude another two months later and continued to grow until it measured 10 inches in diameter!! 

This sarcoid is yet to fully drop, as of today (20-08-14) it is still hanging on by a thread of skin! 

Tio's Story

Tio is owned by Pam Harrison from Cumbria.
Tio got two massive fly bites last September that were very inflamed and these lumps developed from there - Pam never had them confirmed as sarcoids but the vet was convinced that's what they were. Pam started using the Arc in April this year. Until the beginning of July there was very little change and then one started to change in shape and texture.

At the end of July the bigger of the two sarcoids had dropped off. Tio came in from the field at 7:00pm on the Saturday evening. By 10:00pm the sarcoids had gone. The picture below shows how the skin under the sarcoid had already begun to close as the sarcoid gradually came out.

Tio had very little bleeding and by morning it had dried up on it's own accord.

What is Microcurrent and what does it actually do?

Here at ArcEquine HQ we are often asked how our machine works and what exactly is the technology used. We are very proud of our ARC and have had fantastic results from it, however we understand that you don't just want to "take our word for it". It is important that you know how this works and how it will help you and your horse.

So what actually is microcurrent?
Microcurrent introduces very low-level electrical currents into your body through 2 electrode pads applied to the skin. What is a microcurrent we hear you ask? At its simplest, a microcurrent is an electrical current measured in millionths of an amp or µA. It’s perfectly safe and can’t be felt, in the same way you can’t feel your body’s own natural bio-currents because they are similar in strength. How is this possible? The aim of Microcurrent is to support and aid the body's own natural healing process. Microcurrents occur naturally within the body and they are vital for the production of ATP which moves essential substances in and out of the cells, while simultaneously boosting the body's absorption of amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), which are an essential component of tissue repair.

What is ATP?
Apart from being a killer word in Scrabble, ATP is Adenosine Triphosphate. This is the molecule used by all living cells to provide a constant supply of energy which enables them to carry out all necessary cellular functions. ATP is formed from an Adenosine molecule with three phosphate molecules bonded to it, hence the ‘tri’ in the name.The energy stored in ATP is released when the bond holding the third phosphate molecule to the rest of the ATP molecule is broken. The product of this process is Adenosine DiPhosphate (ADP) and a separate phosphate molecule (Pi). During cellular respiration, the bond between this phosphate and the ADP is re-made, thus reforming a molecule of ATP. In this way, ATP in our cells is constantly being broken down and re-formed in order to provide them with an unending energy source. 

How does ArcEquine use microcurrent?  
Turn it on, pick a programme, press play – done. For us, what an ArcEquine does isn’t the most impressive part. It was the years of inventive development and research, producing the 120 prototypes to test and refine it and the massive investment needed to make something so complicated so simple. ArcEquine is a wearable, non-invasive, drug free device. On one hand it’s the same size as the smaller disposable devices, yet can be charged and is far more sophisticated. It’s the very best of both worlds, without compromise. Packing all of that into something barely larger than a credit card was quite a task. Not that you’ll ever notice. Which is precisely the point. Read more about the science in our Arc4Health section 

Microcurrent vs TENS
There is no such thing as Microcurrent versus TENS as they are so different except for the fact that they both use electricity, but then again, so does a toaster. Microcurrent speaks an entirely different language to the body because it uses a current 1,000 times lower, which is why you can’t feel our devices. To classify as a microcurrent, the current must be being measured within the millionths of an amp range. Whilst TENS devices are effective, they produce currents that are considerably stronger, so they can’t do the same things as the body’s own naturally occurring microcurrents.

If you would like more information, please email us for more information on how ArcEquine could help you and your horse, admin@arcmicrotech.com

You can also check our Facebook page for case studies and success stories from our customers: www.facebook.com/ArcEquine

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