Headshaking

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In horses, headshaking is a symptom that is an expression of an illness.

Symptoms

The symptom of headshaking is eponymous for the disease. Unlike z. B. Headshaking or weaving is not a behavioral disorder. The animals often try to rub their nose or head on the floor, the wall or their front legs. The clinical picture often begins insidiously and can increase so much that riding becomes impossible. In extreme cases, the animals are so distracted that they endanger themselves, the rider and their surroundings. Often the symptoms only occur seasonally (spring / summer). Headshakers sometimes react sensitively to touches on the head. Photosensitivity (sensitivity to light) is often described.

causes

Basically, headshaking is divided into two categories: symptomatic (here you know a cause) and idiopathic (here you don't know any cause) headshaking. This means that the word headshaking describes the symptom of an illness that can have many causes. So-called symptomatic headshaking can be caused by:

  • Dental problems
  • Parasite infestation on the head (ear)
  • Ear diseases
  • abnormal changes in the nasal passages or sinuses
  • Eye diseases
  • Back problems
  • Rideability problems
  • Rider errors

So-called idiopathic headshaking is used when all known possible causes have been ruled out. A more recent theory suggests that idiopathic headshaking could be viewed analogously to human trigeminal neuralgia . This is a disease in which pain signals are sent to the brain from the 5th cranial nerve ( trigeminal nerve ). In human medicine, too, the cause of this has not always been adequately clarified. One is pathological vascular nerve contact; here an adjacent artery is supposed to run too close to the nerve and irritate it by the peristalsis caused by the blood flowing past it. An attempt to explain all other cases is the short-circuit effect model, which is based on demyelination of nerve fibers of the trigeminal nerve. In humans, trigeminal neuralgia is often referred to as electric shock-like pain.

treatment

Treatment is often not easy due to the multitude of causes that are often difficult to diagnose. In cases of symptomatic headshaking, the cause must of course be treated. In the case of idiopathic headshaking, the main aim at the moment is to try to alleviate the symptom (shaking the head). In recent times a nasal net has often been used, a type of gauze that is attached over the nostrils. One effect has been described above all in lighter cases. The theory is that the mechanical stimulus alleviates the pain stimulus, similar to the effect of scratching. Drug therapy for idiopathic headshaking can be tried. The drug of choice is the anticonvulsant carbamazepine or gabapentin . However, this therapy does not lead to success in all cases, and these substances also fall under the drugs relevant to doping at the tournament.

A study on headshaking has been running for several years at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover.

See also

Web links

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  • DS Mills, K. Taylor: Field study of the efficacy of three types of nose net for the treatment of headshaking in horses. In: Vet Rec. 152 (2), Jan 11, 2003, pp. 41-44.
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