Lyka had this on her right elbow last year. The vet told me its common with dogs, especially great danes, who like to plop themselves down on the ground when they lie down. My house is all marble tiled downstairs which is a very hard surface. When Lyka is excited she probably slams her elbows down 10+ times barking to get food or a ball.

The vet told me to find a way to pad her elbow and see if it goes away in about a month. Well, padding a very active dogs elbow is not easy. What I managed to do was get a cheap THICK wool sweater for kids at the store, cut out the zip, cut one of the sleeves to just below the elbow, and the side where her hygroma is I doubled up the wool sleeve and stitched it together so it had a double layer of padding there.

It took a good 3 months or so, but finally the hygroma started to go down. About a month or so ago I noticed that the "sack" was still there, but the fluid was all gone. Now she is 100% normal, but the vet said to keep the sweater on another 6 months or so, that trauma can bring it back really easily once they've had the hygroma.

The first 6 weeks or so I just crated rested her with a matt in the crate and tried to keep her from smacking it on the ground, but I didnt see any change and some days thought it actually got worse. I think the permanent padding around that area really helped it clear up. Overall it was about 5-6 months from first seeing it to it being totally cleared up.

Heres some pics of her sweater. Its all kinds of stretched out right now so it doesnt sit like it used to. I think it'll fall apart if I wash it again so I will probably spend the $8 to make a new one :p

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3253/2314565268_3d0017bc37_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2176/2314565740_9d254baac7_b.jpg

Mr. Schoonbrood,

I appreciate your responses. I think that is an approach I will take - I like the sweater idea - has to be easier than to try to protect just the immediate area.

X-rays in the morning. It is sensitive to the touch. I'm concerned about the possibility for infection. And we've been wandering in areas with thorn apple trees and other thorn bush stuff - though it is probably a hygroma and not a thorn or the like. Brio loves to run with abandon.

What about steroids? The vet was not enthusiastic about anything invasive. I'm wondering about edema treating drugs.

Time will resolve the issue, I guess.

I appreciate you taking the time to respond. I value your input. Thanks.

As my dog started to get calluses on his elbow I used that self-adherent bandage wrap and some gauze. It stays in place well enough that you could pad it with almost anything.once this is healed you could also try something like bag balm on the elbows I know a hygroma is not the same as a callous but keeping the elbows from being dried from the ground in general seems to help keep these things from getting started.

Mr. Strom,

Thank you for responding. Probably some combination of tape and the sweater protector described in Mr. Schoonbrood's post will be the answer to the problem.

I like to think I'm tuned into the dogs but the size of the hygroma really caught me by surprise. I'm hopeful a combination of the protections suggested will resolve the issue in time.

We shall see.

Thank you for your advice and for responding.

Whats nice about this stuff is it's not tape. It sticks to itself with no adhesive. Any dog that likes to lay on hard surfaces can get those things. The trick is getting them to lay on a softer surface.

Good luck Mike, I was about ready to schedule the reccomended surgery for Lyka when I saw it start to go down. I decided to wait it out and am glad I did! She has been through alot in her short life, I would have hated to add elbow surgery to the list.

Steve and Mike S., I am curious what the end results are with both of your methods.

My male had a hygroma as a younger pup, and we didn’t do a lot other than insist that he lay only on beds (Quinn is notorious about choosing to lay on hard floors only.) He now has a left over “sack” that is kinda floppy and soft. Similar to what Mike is describing. So did you have it removed? Our vet doesn’t want to mess with it, as it is in a location that would likely be torn open, but… Did your “sack” diminish in size as time goes on, or is it not soon enough to tell?

And Steve, did your wrapping help to eliminate or lessen the calluses or just prevent them from getting bigger? Quinn’s elbows, and ankles to a certain degree, are slightly callused. I would like to prevent it from getting worse though…

And for Mike A, Quinn’s hygroma went down after about 4 months of forced bed laying. I wish I had mentioned it when it happened, ‘cause Mike’s sweater mixed with Steve’s wrapping would have been much less stressful for us all!

Thanks in advance for the replies.

Jessica, the "sack" seems to have entirely disappeared. I can't really tell any difference between her left or right elbows anymore. It took a while for it to go down, but it did. It was never huge, but relative to her size it was definitely a notable size.