Signs of an infection.

[jdurg]

Hey everyone. I've got a little question here. Chemistry has always been a topic I'm more familiar with than biology, hence my question. During the day yesterday I was moving some furniture around in my room. I was wearing socks at the time and while moving a heavy cabinet the handle I was holding onto broke off, thus dropping the edge of the cabinet on my right big toe knuckle. Since I was wearing socks, the cabinet slid off of my foot and onto the flooring, but the friction from it sliding down against the sock created a VICIOUS friction burn on my right big knuckle. The area didn't swell up or turn black so I know that there is no bone damage there, but the skin kind of ripped off of the knuckle exposing the tissue underneath. It never bled, but just oozed sebaceous fluid. I walked off the pain and just continued on with my day.

 

Today when I woke up, however, the knuckle area of my right big toe is beginning to hurt. I have applied plenty of antibiotic ointments and sterilizers to the wound and covered it up, but it just feels as if it is throbbing. There is no increase in temperature, the area of my foot isn't swelling, nor is it changing color. It's just really sore and feels like it's throbbing. As a diabetic, I'm always a bit cautious about wounds to my feet. I don't feel as if it is infected, but just want to make sure. I do have a full regimen of amoxicillin at home, however. A while ago I got a nasty bug bite that appeared infected so I went to a clinic and got it checked out. They gave me some antibiotics, but by the time I got the script filled the infection had gone away. I could probably take those antibiotics and hope that it heals soon though.

[YT2095]

the bruise isn`t always imediately apparent, it`s going to hurt for a good half a week to a week.

for the surface injury, plenty of fresh air, don`t bother with the creams, just clean it in hot salt water and leave the air get to it as much as possible.

you`ll not need the anitbiotics.

the throbbing is 100% normal, it means blood is getting to the area and sending the needed "goodies" to help fix it up again, the fact it didn`t bleed and just gave out plasma says it was a graze (you`re dead lucky you didn`t break the sucker tho!).

 

a strong salt bathe and fresh air, and hammer out you cleanest pair of dirty socks once a day will help, as for the bruise (you will have one) that`s a time thing.

 

oh yeah, and wear Shoes next time!

[Mokele]

One big sign of infection is scent. If a wound is developing a funny odor, it's probably infected. Of course, this isn't absolute, but it's a pretty good indicator.

 

Mokele

[ecoli]

often you can see the infection, especially if it's a fungal thing.

[Douglas]

Seems to me if the infected area has a funny odor, gangrene has set in.

[jdurg]

Well my feet ALWAYS reek so that's going to be hard to distinguish.

[zyncod]

Gangrene only happens when there is a loss of blood supply, which is obviously not the case for most wounds. An infected wound is just, well, an infected wound. It has a horrible smell; like ozone and bacteria put together. Trust me, I have done many stupid things that lead to infected wounds.

[Glider]

Without testing for things like elevated white-cell count, the signs of localised infection are simply swelling, heat, redness and pain. Heat and redness is what differentiates between bruising and infection.

 

As you say there is no heat or redness, I suspect deep bruising of the joint (soft tissue injury). That too will result in a degree of swelling, but without infection. The joint will be stiff for some time as deep tissue injuries, especially in joints, take some time to heal. I got my hand caught between the frames of a sash window (the sashes had gone and the top section came down like a guillotine) resulting in soft tissue injury to the second joint of my left anular finger. This happened in june and the joint is still stiff (it's improving slowly).

 

I wouldn't put yourself on a course of antibiotics unless there were definite signs of infection. Firstly it wouldn't help and secondly the unecessary use of antibiotics is not good.

[jdurg]

I've just been going through the routine of putting a germicidal cream and cleansing wash on the wound and then covering it with a bandage to prevent it from sticking to my socks. The wound is beginning to look like it is healing as there's this white film of skin growing over the open area. The area has still not swelled up and is the same temperature as the rest of my foot. It's just incredibly sore and painful at the moment. My plans for mountain hiking this weekend have come to a crashing halt.

[YT2095]

I dunno man, IMO, creams tend to block the air getting to a wound, and leave the area moist (ideal for bacterial growth) left Dry and clean (I use Salt) I find that it heals at a rate of knots with no complications.

 

My plans for mountain hiking this weekend have come to a crashing halt.

 

I trust when you`re well enough to go that you WILL wear shoes this time?

[jdurg]

Well undoubtedly. I can walk and hike just fine if I'm not wearing my boots. As soon as I put my hiking boots on, however, that's when the pain starts. The only reason I wasn't wearing boots when moving my cabinet is that I foolishly trusted the handles built onto the structure.

[jdurg]

Just a quick little update. The wound has sealed itself off and is no longer an open, festering sore. The injury itself is about the size of a US Nickel in area and is a mixture of a red/white/brown 'chunks'. The skin on top of the wound is leathery tough now as it appears as if my body has regrown the flesh that was ripped off. One thing that can be noticed, however, is that the skin in that area is about 2mm thinner than the surrounding tissue. So there's a bit of a gully in my foot. It doesn't hurt any, but is is REALLY creepy looking. If I move my big toe around, you can kind of see the flesh moving around beneath the skin. This is going to leave one nasty looking scar.