Dog bite

[Rena777]

My brother was bitten by a dog on 6/14/11 on his left leg.  He did not to go to the doctor since he already had a tetanus shot in March 2011 and the dog has been vaccinated--per dog owner.  He just cleaned it.  Three weeks after the incident, he was starting to feel pain/muscle spasm on his thigh down to his leg.  His wound has not completely healed up to now. Yesterday, we brought him to the doctor and the doctor said that it was infected so he gave him antibiotics and vicodin for pain.  But today, he's still feeling the same pain as he did before we went to the doctor.  The pain medication is not helping at all.  Is there something else going on with him?  Is he having a side effect on the tetanus shot he had in March? Is the muscle spasm/pain in anyway a side effect from the tetanus shot?  Please help.  Thank you.

[pinkminnie00]

Hello Rena777,

I know this post has been years ago but I am wondering if you had any updates on your brother's condition? Is he still experiencing any pain? How long did it take him to recover?

I was bitten by a friend's dog last year which did not puncture but I had two pretty nasty bruises and to this day the muscle pain/spasms are still there despite the bruises are gone. I can't really walk without the pain aggravating me. The doctors cannot seem to find the problem after 2 MRIs, several physical therapy appointments, several 2nd and even 3rd opinions from orthopedists. Also, they did not give me any shots or check for infection since it did not puncture.

Any information you have will be so helpful. Thank you so much!

[Rena777]

Thank you for your kind words and your advice. He's lucky to have me as his sister:). I will keep you posted. Thanks again.

[namnam46]

Rena, we're so very glad that you took your Brother back again!!  As I said before, he's very fortunate to have a Caring and Loving Sister like you!!

Please continue to keep us updated on his recovery as we will be watching for it.......Sherry :)

[Rena777]

Thank you for the information you have provided. It surely did help.
We went back to the doctor - urgent care facility- today and complained about the pain again. He said that the infection is making the pain. He gave him a stronger pain prescription.  So far when he's laying down, he doesn't feel so much
pain but once he stands up and walk, that's when the pain starts. Hope that this new pain meds will help. Will keep you posted. Thanks again.  

[namnam46]

Hi Rena777,

First, I want to welcome you to the PM (Pain Management) Forum and let you know that we are glad you found this Forum. We are all CP (Chronic Pain) Patients that help each other with our own expertise and experiences that we have developed through our own CP Issues.

Your Brother is very fortunate to have a Loving Sister that cares so much about him to check this out for him!! :)

I really don't have a lot to add as both Flower and geminigirl have covered this completely!! They have given you some great advice.

The only thing that I would add, is if he is running a fever or if the inflamation is getting worse s we speak, would be to call his Doctor immediately (Doctor's, usually, have an after hours and week-end line) and report to the Doctor what is going on and how much pain he's in and ask what you need to do right now to help him.  I really wouldn't wait until tomorrow.  

Definitely elevate the leg and keep him off of it until tomorrow.  He shouldn't be up on it at all.  Just tell him that "today he will be waited on hand and foot"!!  :)  Most guys "love" that type of treatment anyway, so it shouldn't be too hard to get him to co-operate for today.

Please let us know how both your Brother, as well as you, are doing tomorrow.

You are the Best!!!.............Sherry  :)

[geminigirl1963]

Puncture wounds of any type are difficult to treat and very prone to infection, especially when those punctures come from an animal bite.  My guess is that since he did not seek medical assistance for  more than three weeks after the bite, that the infection could be relatively severe.  Therefore, it may take a while for it to clear up - and may even require more than one round o fantibiotics.  Since he just received the antibiotics yesterday, they most definitely have not had a chance to do their job in clearing up the infection.

Is he running any fever?  Is the bite area warm, red or swollen?  If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then you may want to take him to either the local ER or an urgent care facility.  Let them know that he's already on oral antibiotics, but is running a fever (or area is warm, red, swollen - whatever the symptoms are).  He may need to be switched over to IV antibiotics (and perhaps IV pain meds) at least to get a "kick start" to the meds and healing process.  The last thing you want is for the infection to enter his bloodstream and him end up septic.

If he's not running a fever or having the other symptoms I mentioned, I'd suggest calling his doctor tomorrow and letting him know that the pain meds they gave him are not helping and ask if there's anything else they can suggest or prescribe.

In the meantime, he may find that elevating his leg and applying ice might help a little with the pain.  It's also very important to continue to keep the bite area clean, gently washing with soap and water a few times a day - try not to rub the area when washing or drying it - gently blot instead - rubbing may increase the pain.

In my opinion, it's highly unlikely that the pain he's experiencing is in any way related to the tetanus shot he received back in March - any reaction to that injection would have happened long ago.

Best of luck and please keep us posted on how he's doing and what you find out.

[flower12345]

I didn't want to read and run. I'm sorry, but I don't really know why he still has pain. It sounds like maybe since it is infected, the antibiotics will take a few days to kick in. Make sure that he finishes all of them, even if he feels better. I hope that his pain lessens once the medications begin to work. I think that it will lessen, but it will take a few days.

Can he call his doctor and let him know that the treatment is not as effective as he expected it to be?

Hugs,

Flower