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Urgent Care (Expert Forum)
Possibly infected ??
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Possibly infected ??
by jennafire, Sep 17, 2007 08:09PM
OK, here is the situation,......A friend of mine, while carrying a glass table top, falls and cuts his shin in several places. These cuts are very DEEP & OPEN ! Definately requiring stitches (if not staples)!
But,......He refuses to let me take him to the 'Emergency' ! ....He has NO insurance. So I (someone who has absolutely NO medical training whatsoever !) am faced with tending to these DEEP, BLOODY lacerations. So I clean them up, and the bleeding stops, and there are 3 lacerations. The smallest one being across the knee cap, then just below the knee cap is a deep cut about 2 inches across, it's deep but the skin meets and closes up nicely. Now this next laceration, which is located about 4 inches below the knee cap, is about 3 1/2 to 4 inches across, and gaping open about an inch or more. I try to bring the upper and the lower together so as to have a closed wound, but I CAN'T , there still is a gap of about an inch. I go ahead and cover the wounds with neosporin and gauze.
It is now about 2 weeks later and I have cleaned the wounds and have changed the bandage regularly, and have let air get to it. There have been no signs of infection. That is ,.....until NOW. In which it has, in just the last day or two started draining, almost a continuous, but very very slow secretion of a clearish to yellowish watery fluid. And now today it has a rather thick yellow splotch of gooey pus in the open part of the wound. There is No sign of inflamation as there is no redness or tenderness to the surrounding area, nor is it warm to the touch. Is what I have described a possible infection starting ?? Or is what I have described part of a normal healing process ?? Please inform me. Will be greatly appreciated !! Thanks !! & Sorry for such a lengthy post !!
But,......He refuses to let me take him to the 'Emergency' ! ....He has NO insurance. So I (someone who has absolutely NO medical training whatsoever !) am faced with tending to these DEEP, BLOODY lacerations. So I clean them up, and the bleeding stops, and there are 3 lacerations. The smallest one being across the knee cap, then just below the knee cap is a deep cut about 2 inches across, it's deep but the skin meets and closes up nicely. Now this next laceration, which is located about 4 inches below the knee cap, is about 3 1/2 to 4 inches across, and gaping open about an inch or more. I try to bring the upper and the lower together so as to have a closed wound, but I CAN'T , there still is a gap of about an inch. I go ahead and cover the wounds with neosporin and gauze.
It is now about 2 weeks later and I have cleaned the wounds and have changed the bandage regularly, and have let air get to it. There have been no signs of infection. That is ,.....until NOW. In which it has, in just the last day or two started draining, almost a continuous, but very very slow secretion of a clearish to yellowish watery fluid. And now today it has a rather thick yellow splotch of gooey pus in the open part of the wound. There is No sign of inflamation as there is no redness or tenderness to the surrounding area, nor is it warm to the touch. Is what I have described a possible infection starting ?? Or is what I have described part of a normal healing process ?? Please inform me. Will be greatly appreciated !! Thanks !! & Sorry for such a lengthy post !!
Member Comments (1)
by nthemidstoflames, Sep 18, 2007 04:39AM
Hello, im only a firefighter/paramedic and in no way professionally affiliated with this website, you will have to see a doctor to get an actual diagnosis. But from what you are explaining here it seems it may be the start of an infection and in my opinion you should just keep it clean and under observation. If you see any swelling, redness or tenderness that does not go away you should probably get in to see a doctor. I personally was stabbed with a dirty razor in jail several years ago, and never got any of the 5 deep laceration/stab wounds treated at all. I of course took care of them as soon as I got out of jail by washing them, letting them drain and applying neosporin as needed every single day and they took at least a full year to heal. But they DID heal, the human body is a miraculous thing and we dont give it as much credit as it deserves. That said, if you see any signs of infection and you are worried about it go into see a doctor asap, and if you notice anything that even resembles blood poisening in the slightest way (red lines/circles around and coming from the cut on the skin) get him to the emergency room
