Has anyones dog ever developed hygroma? My 11 month old Mal has recently developed hygroma on his left elbow. I know now what causes it (lying on a hard surface), but how would you recommend I treat it?
From what I've read if it isn't too bad yet you can just keep the dog from lying on hard surfaces, and it will go away. If it does not go away, you can perform surgery to drain it, but it's a process with very real potential complications.
If it stays the same size for the rest of his life, is this acceptable? Or is it considered very unsightly?
I feel bad for my little guy, I wish I would have known to make sure he slept on a soft surface.
Janelle Story Webboard User Reg: 06-15-2005
Posts: 52
Loc: Virginia
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Depending on how large the hygroma is, you may want to think about having it drained. I say this because as it gets larger, it has the potential to become infected and that opens up a whole new set of problems. Depending on how large the infected area was it could even result in the dog needing skin grafting in that area. So, if your vet recommends drainage, I would go with it.
Also, in all my reading, the only cause I could find for hygromas was repeated trauma (such as lying on an unpadded surface) in an area where the bone is close to the surface of the skin, such as the elbows.
I hope this helps and I hope your dog is better soon.
Matthew, Our gsd male developed a hygroma after he slipped and banged his elbow on a wooden bridge. He was 3 months old at the time and I brought him to the vet. Our vet told us that surgery to drain the hygroma often led to other complications and suggested to keep him off hard surfaces and wait-and-see. He is now 6 months old and you can not tell he had any problems. We rubbed the area gently to massage it but no other treatment (other than a rubber mat in his crate) was given. I'm not an expert on these things, but this is our experience. Hope your mal comes through OK!
You know what, I actually think thats what happened with my dog too. I first noticed the hygroma about an hour after he went down hard on a curb chasing a ball in the rain.
I thought that was how it developed, but in all of the research that I did on the Internet it only mentioned laying on a hard surface, so I figured thats what caused it.
I wasn't familiar with the name, but one of my danes former owner kept her in a small, concrete floored kennel for a lot of the day and night. She had growths on her front elbows which have subsided on their own. She had a growth on the top of her back foot that was caused by laying on concrete as much as she did.
We let it go, but she developed a habit of licking it which left her with an open sore once in awhile. We tried a cortizone shot (think that is what it was), which helped for a few months, but then it started growing again. We finally had it surgically removed and everything has been fine for about a year now.
I just wanted to state for the record that I followed Mary's advice, and I have been massaging the hygroma every day gently.
The hygroma has reduced considerably, and is basically loose skin now. This after only a few days of rubbing it and providing constant soft surfaces for him to lay on.
I am now certain that he developed it from his injury, and not from laying in his crate.
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Hygroma
#88524 - 11/04/2005 08:51 PM 
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Re: Hygroma
[Re: Janelle Story ]
#88526 - 11/06/2005 05:33 PM 
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