How can you tell if a cut is infected?
Look for redness or red streaks around the injury, swelling or a discharge of thick yellow, green or grey-white pus from the wound or cut. This indicates the presence infection fighting white blood cells. If it hurts to even touch the area then it is definetly infected. Make sure you wash the area every day and apply tripple atibiotic everyday. Have it covered most of the day but do give it a little bit of air. The time frame it should heal is about 3-5 days. If during that time you experience symptoms like fever or dizziness....GO TO THE DOC....it is getting worse... Good luck.
How can I tell if my wound is infected?
Smell usually indicates a problem. You should probably see a Doctor. Burn Wound Care at Home Call your Doctor if * Increased redness * Odor * Swelling * Increase in the amount of drainage from a wound or change in drainage color. * Fever (check your temperature each day and notify your doctor if your temperature is greater than 101.5F).
I cut my thumb, and i'm not sure if it's infected.?
If the skin is pink and healthy, and no bad oozing of liquids other than ocassional blood, you should be ok. What you really need to look for are streaks of red that start at the injury area and move toward the heart flow. Diabetics oft times get ulcers on their feet, and due to diabetes effects the nerves, the patient may not feel the injury. But once red streaks appear, it is a mad dash to the emergency hospital for antibiotics. That is when it is very serious. In the meantime, if it's just a matter of new skin replacing old, then you are fine. We heal best when we heal from the inside toward the outside (top) layer of skin. 042308 5:30
If I got three stitches in my finger and it does not look infected, but the doctor told me I had to come back?
Of course you can cut them out yourself. With a finger that is perfectly fine, since no one cares if a finger looks gruesome with a scar or badly healed stitch marks - though of course it will never be *that* bad! I really wish that the fridge had come off worst, but they rarely do - except in my case of course :-) One thing to consider - and here an example may be in order - my son had a mole removed several years ago. It was cauterised, and reasonably well done. However, it kind of grew back, and he was always unhappy about how it looked since it was close to the end of his nose. So recently, he asked the Army surgeon to remove it - properly this time, by surgery! Well, I am sure the surgery was fine, for the mole is gone without a doubt, but my son couldn't wait for the surgeon to remove his stitches. So, he took them out himself, and apart from a little discomfort, he managed to do what was necessary ( apart from perhaps one stitch were the 'knot' was somehow beneath the healing flesh, and that was really quite painful to remove enventually). Anyway, he removed them all, and seemed pleased that he had not needed to go back to the doc. Sadly, the stitches show on his nose, along with the surgery incision scar, and it will be years before these all settle down to be faint scar tissue rather than depressed, obvious scars. All I'm saying is, let the professionals do their job. If it goes wrong or whatever, you have some redress, but if you interefere and mess with things yourself and it goes wrong, to whom are you going to complain?
What happens if you don't get a Tetanus shot after getting cut with rusty metal?
Maybe nothing.But you could get tetanus, and once you get it, even if they manage to save you, you may still wish you had died. Dying of tetanus may be the most painful way to die on the planet.Here is a painting done in 1809 of a person dying of tetanus. Painting done by his doctor. The position is called opistothonus.Why does he look like this? Your muscles ‘fire’ to contract, i.e., shorten. Then a chemical in your muscles is released to relax your muscles. What the tetanus toxin does is to prevent that chemical from being released, so your muscles fire, contract, and NEVER LET GO.Back muscles are stronger than stomach muscles, so you arch your back.If you are in really good shape, too bad, because you leg muscles can contract so strongly that they will BREAK. YOUR. THIGH. BONES, the strongest bones in your body.Imagine a ‘Charley Horse’ in every muscle in your body, 24 hours a day, for days on end.And there is almost nothing that can be done to spare you. Eventually, your diaphragm contacts, and never lets go, so you quit breathing.Getting to this blissful stage often takes 3 days. 3 days of the worst pain imaginable.(BTW, we know the chemical that’s released, and could give it to you, but then, you would stop breathing, which presents it’s own set of problems)Personally, I think the vaccine shot is the way to go, but hey, to you anti-vaxxers out there, it’s your call. Just don’t do this to your kids, please.BTW, the bacteria that causes tetanus, Clostridium tetani, is a common soil living bacteria. It’s in the ground everywhere. It’s NOT rust that causes tetanus, but a rusty nail indicates it’s been in contact with the soil for a period of time, and thus likely has C. tetani on it.C. Tetani is an anaerobic bacteria, meaning that Oxygen is poisonous to it. If you get a scratch, tetanus is very, very unlikely, because of the Oxygen. But a puncture, like from a nail, creates an oxygen-free atmosphere in the wound, just perfect for C. Tetani to grow and thrive.Tetanus can be ‘treated’ today, but 2/3 of patients still die, and those that survive typically spend 6–8 weeks in the hospital, mostly on a ventilator, with about 3–4 weeks in a induced coma, followed by 4–6 months in rehab. Personally, I think getting the vaccine is easier.BTW, there is a variation of this disease called infantile tetanus. New borns can get it from, for example, non-sterile scissors used to cut their umbilical cord. I will spare you the pictures.
3 days ago, I got cut by a glass while doing the washing up. The wound bled but it doesn't look infected. Should I be worried?
Generally speaking if a wound bleeds and excessive amount you are generally safe because the bleeding contains things in the blood that will help flush out the bacteria the concern that I would have would be whether there is any glass left in the wound. You want to look for any red streak going up the arm or wherever you got caught do you want to notice any green or yellow discharge a slightly yellowish discharge may be normal as that is white blood cell I'm talking very yellow foul-smelling or if you suddenly develop the temperature you can generally put Neosporin or triple antibiotic ointment on it once a day help heal it I would not put it on more than one today as it is nonspecific to the bacteria killed and it will also kill your good bacteria that help you keep from getting infections if there's any question at all or if you develop a fever get your doctor immediately. And for the love of God be more careful and don't cut yourself on glass
My wrist is slightly swollen from cuts. Is it infected?
I've had a self harming problem for a 2 years now, but a few days ago I cut a little deeper than I usually do. Everything seemed fine once the bleeding stopped. The next morning I looked at my wrist and noticed that a part of it looked slightly swollen. It doesn't hurt and it's not tender to the touch, and it's not hard either, but it just looks as if it's a mosquito bite, except a lot larger. Is it infected? I'm only concerned because normally I would put my razor in hot water and use alcohol to clean it, but on that day, I forgot to. None of my family members know about my self harming and I am not going to be telling them about it anytime soon. I just really need some help 'cause I don't know if I should wait it out and see what happens or get help immediately.
How do you treat a cut by rusty metal? What are steps to take to prevent tetanus?
You treat a cut from rusty metal the same way as any other wound: Firstly, wash your hands thoroughly. Clean the wound with plenty of saline or lightly soapy water (don't use bar soaps, antibacterial soaps or peroxides). Rinse, don't scrub, unless you have to gently loosen the dirt (dab the wound). You can apply antiseptics such as betadine or crystaderm (1% hydrogen peroxide) around the edges of the wound. Don't rub it into the wound as it can damage the tissue! Approximate the edges of the cut with steristrips or similar and cover with a dressing. Change the dressing when you see oozing or every three to seven days depending on the type of dressing you use. Every time you change the dressing, rinse or dab the wound with saline or water. Don't rub! Seek medical attention if the area around the wound looks red and is warm to touch, the wound oozes excessively, it becomes foul smelling, oozes thick yellow liquid (pus), gets bigger or does not heal, you develop a fever etc.Not every cut from rusty metal will cause tetanus. You will need to pick up spores of the bacterium Clostridium tetani to get infected. These spores are found in manure-fed soils and on the human skin. They are highly resistant to antiseptics, so I'd strongly suggest to get a booster shot if you haven't had one in the last ten years.
If u have a cut in ur vagina from sex. dou think it will heal by itself? or will it get infected?
ok. me and my boyfriend had sex 4 days ago and when we was having sex he hit the side of my vagina and it riped . ithurts really bad when i pee and sometimes when i sit. im scared its going to get infected cuz i herd pee hAS bacteria in it. should i tell my mom and go get it checked out . or could i do something at home to make it heal faster? like neosporin or something .. im really scared helppp!!!