Two weeks ago I was reaching underneath the bed in the studio to grab an errant spool of ribbon. Running my hand quickly under the bed, I wound up impaling myself with a sliver (it felt like I had shoved a serrated chopstick deep inside my hand). I staggered over to Chip, moaning and generally making myself look like a fool. Especially when Chip pulled out a teeny tiny itty bitty minute bit-- something that can't even be called a sliver. It was a sli.
Afterward, my hand still hurt. I wondered if there was still something in there. Like up inside, deep. There was a little lump where the sli had been. I figured that the tissues had been, uh, moved around. Or something.
Being the Neosporin junkie that I am, I doused my sucking hand wound liberally and then slapped on a bandaid.
Fast forward to Sunday. The Neosporin did a fine job of healing the outside: the skin fresh and pink. But underneath it, the little lump had become more prominent and there was a little nasty pocket of goo. All week I'd been thinking that maybe we didn't get the sliver completely out, or there was something bigger in there. It seemed like I was right. I asked Chip to operate.
He sort of found something. But it was small. Even smaller than the first sli. This one was a sl.
Again I did my routine: cleaned the sucking hand wound, applied Neosporin, added bandaid.
I'm afriad that it's still not right. The outside is healing up nice and pretty, but I can feel my pulse inside the owie. And it's still all lumpy with the white goo underneath the skin. It's not good.
The point of this TMI? I need to know what to do. Chip refuses to dig into my hand (I don't blame him, he's not one who can easily stomach blood). All my Neosporin applications are working against me, so it's like it's healed on the outside but not on the inside. I'm not sure if I'm very capable of cutting into my own hand.
What would you guys do? Do I wait for it to get even more infected? Hope that the thing that's buried in there will eventually work its way out? Go to the doctor and feel totally ridiculous as I point to a SLIVER and tell the doctor that it hurts? Have my hand gnawed off by a wolverine (or a teething toddler)?
Please advise.
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10 comments:
Dude.
I know it's going to be hard what with the watching of two children and all, but...
Get thee to a doctor NOW. Chris has seen stuff like this in the ER before, and it could be a BAD infection. Go now, do not pass go, do not collect $200. At best, you'll go in, they'll drain it and pack it with antibiotic tape and you'll go home. At worst...well, you'll have to do rounds of antibiotics, they'll still drain it and pack it, but you'll have to go back for more redressing. I'm voting for the best, but if you leave it, you might end up with the worst.
If neither you or Chip can stomach digging around in there, I say you better get in to the doctor and have them fix you up.
I would probably agitate and agitate and wait too long and end up with a staph infection and DEATH.
What I would ADVISE is to call the doctor. If it were me, I would feel silly even though I'd know it was legit, and so I'd be overly self-deprecating to smooth things over and ideally avoid seeing anyone roll his/her eyes.
i'd call the dr - tell them the situation and ask if THEY think it merits a visit?
Better be careful as it may grow a head and some arms and legs! GO NOW!!!RIGHT NOW!!!!
Ha haha! I would say that if it still looks nasty and pink and oozy then definitely go to the Dr.
Love you Drama ooops Sister
Um, I would go see a doctor or a PA. Yep. Goo be gone!
Ok, if you don't want to see a doctor, and you don't have like a red/pink area spreading across your hand (which would be cellulitis, and needs antibiotics), and you don't have a fever, here's what I would do.
Instead of keeping it moist and covered and allowing it to heal, you need to open the top of it, (just a nick in the top) squeeze out whatever pus is there, and then scrub it with peroxide. It's going to hurt a bit. I'd take a q-tip and rub it around in there...the idea is to scrub out anything in there and expose the germs to the peroxide, which will kill them. Let it bubble a bit, then put iodine or betadine on it, and leave it open to air as much as possible. I'd scrub it maybe twice a day and coat with betadine afterward; don't let it close up until it's healed from inside out.
Oh, Whimsy, Whimsy, Whimsy.
I have seen slis and even sls pop (kaboing!) out of the skin after many weeks of festering. (I have only seen this maybe twice; it's not like I see this A LOT, but it IS possible.)
But! I have also seen WAY TOO MANY medical shows about necrotizing fasciitis! I say you get to a doctor post-haste unless you want to be a walking, talking torso soon.
Wait. I need to amend that last comment. I guess if your limbs were amputated, you wouldn't really be a WALKING torso. More like a scooting torso. A scooting, talking torso. With a head. A scooting, talking torso/head combination. There. That is what I meant.
Please go to a doctor and then report back here.
A MONTH ago Skyler had some weird sliver looking thing on her neck/collar bone area. I picked at it, she freaked, I stuck a band-aid on it. It healed over and now has come back as a red bump that hurts and she won't let me touch it. If it were MY red nasty lump I'd poke at it until the goo came out but this is a six year old that doesn't trust my surgery skills. I'm going to have to take her to the doctor's.
If you were here, I'd lance your sliver.
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