Horses can’t tell us when or where they are in pain, which makes it very hard to diagnose and treat them.
Vets often try to find sore spots by pressing on the horse’s body (palpation), but this is subjective; what one person calls a “sore” reaction, another might not.
A tool called pressure algometry helps solve this problem. It’s a device that applies a specific, measurable amount of pressure to a precise spot. The vet increases the pressure until the horse reacts (like flinching or moving away). The exact pressure reading when the horse reacts is recorded as its pain threshold.
This study was a review of all the research already done on this tool. The review concluded that there is good evidence that pressure algometry is a reliable and objective method for measuring pain responses in horses. Using this tool will help vets be more accurate in diagnosing and treating pain.
Read ‘Pressure Algometry for the Detection of Mechanical Nociceptive Thresholds in Horses’ on the MDPI website.