How long to heal?

[Penny]

About 10 days ago, I cut my leg on a piece of glass. It isn't a big cut, but was very deep. It bled a lot, probably because I take aspirin, but seemed OK for about 3 days. Then it started itching and had a small hard lump under the scar. I did wash it good and put neosporin on it several times. Now it looks a little inflamed and is very sore, also the area around it. It doesn't look "angry infected", just enough to bother me a bit. I know we take longer to heal, but should it take this long? I hate to make a doctor appointment for a 1/2 inch cut, that sort of hurts, if it was my grandchild, I would put a bandaid on it and tell her to not be such a baby. OK, it is a little worse than that, and I would have taken her to the ER in the first place.:rolleyes: How long do I wait to start worrying that it isn't getting better?

[Belinda]

Being who I am .....If it is still red, sore after 3 days you should call your doc first and let them know. They may call in an antibiotic or ask you to come in........my motto....Better SAFE than SORRY

[Harold]

Cuts sometimes look inflamed as they are healing because the new skin pushes the scab up. As the scab rises it actually tears away from the tender skin and itching usually acompanies it. Swelling from an infection may mimic this. The way to tell them apart is temperature. The temperature of a healing cut will feel the same as the surounding skin. An infection will feel markably warmer to hot as the body raises the temperature of the area to try to kill off the germs or foreign bodies causing the infection. Now if it feels hot, and since it's a holiday weekend, do not wait till Tuesday to see your doc, go to the ER for some antibiotics. There is a chance you could develope blood poison before Tuesday.

[mg_2204]

You already had the best advice. :)

Just wanted to add... in my case the little cuts are the ones always giving me grief. That is why I've stopped walking barefoot outside. And I have started to look at my feet on a (somewhat) regular basis. A little thing can turn nasty.

Take good care!

[lgvincent]

I would encourage you to get a prescription for Bactroban to use on it. I've been using the stuff for many years and I've found it helps cuts heal much faster and if I use it on a cut as soon as it happens, infection doesn't take place.

[artemisia]

In some cases, the Neosporin can make thinks worse. Try using a different antibiotic ointment.

[Penny]

It is infected, I got some Bacitracin zinc Ointment, and was told to see my GP on Tuesday....$50 please, at least I got samples of the ointments. It was just getting sorer and redder though, So I went to Urgent Care, waited almost 2 hours, saw a doctor for about 2 minutes, he just looked and said "Yep, it's infected" It's so hot and humid, and I have been working hard planting and cleaning, seems like it is worse than before I used the ointment.

[Harold]

Using an ointment only works if the wound is open. An infection between the scab and skin can be treated by tearing the scab off, cleaning the pus out of the wound and then applying the ointment. After the skin closes over the wound there are two choices. One cut it open and remove the infection and any foreign material, in this case glass that may still be in there and then apply the ointment. Two take an antibiotic. Either way you may want your GP decide what's best and let them do it. Does your GP have an emergency number or home phone number listed? Some will have it on the office answering machine. You could call them and see if they could call in a script for an antibiotic to tied you over untill you can go in and see them. Check the wound frequently and if you see red streaks running up veins call your GP so they can tell you to go to the ER. You will probably need an IV with an antibiotic. Things like this always happen on a holiday weekend.

[Penny]

My doctor's message says if it is an emergency go to Urgent Care or ER. My neighbor is a nurse, has offered to try to drain it, and then apply ointment. I've seen her work on her kids, I think I will let her give it a try. It's not very pretty right now, I don't think I could do it myself. No streaks, just a red circle that keeps getting bigger.

[Peter Lee]

My doctor's message says if it is an emergency go to Urgent Care or ER. My neighbor is a nurse, has offered to try to drain it, and then apply ointment. I've seen her work on her kids, I think I will let her give it a try. It's not very pretty right now, I don't think I could do it myself. No streaks, just a red circle that keeps getting bigger.
I'm with the others. You have an infection. Get something done - quickly. I ended up in hospital for a week on intravenous antibiotics by hoping an infection would clear up - caused by a small prick on my knee. It won't go away and could get a lot worse. If your immune system can't cope with it any longer the infection could spread quite fast.

[Penny]

I saw my doctor today, and got a tetnus shot and prescription for antibiotics for my leg. Although it seemed better today, it is still infected and sore. The only thing he said was to not use things like Neosporin for cuts and such. He said it is much better to just wash with soap and warm water, and use a little peroxide. This is good to know, even for the kids summer cuts and scrapes.

[sydneya]

As usual I got in on this rather late in the game but was very glad you posted this thread Penny. I hope it is doing better now. It was a good reminder to me on how to take care of the infections. I knew we could not fool around with infections. But I did not realize that the best treatment was soap, water and peroxide. I'm one that has always run to the neosporin. It's nice to know that the cheap ole treatments (peroxide) are good. I like cheap!!:whistling

[Penny]

OW! Forgot how sore a tetnus shot makes your arm. I intend to load up on peroxide...I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. I have a couple of new cuts, from working in the yard, I know I should take care of them right away, but just never do.

[nufznuf]

I just wanted to say thanks for posting this. I will pick up peroxide the next time I am at the store...
Good to know about neosporin too...its my hubbys magic cure all. Now I know it isnt' so magic after all.