Advise request

[Boogity]

I week ago I ran a drill into my index finger knuckle. Not too deep but it still hurt like heck. I'm a typical guy and I continued working out in the barn with an old rag wrapped around my finger for another two hours. Well here it is 6 or 7 days later and my entire finger is swollen, red, and very hot. I can't bend my finger without lots of pain. I have put antibiotic ointment on it a couple times and a band aid once in a while.

My question is . . . do any of you have a secret cure for infections of this type? I surely do not want to drive 45 miles (round trip) to a doctor for this silly thing.

Don't tell me to amputate at the neck

 

[gettinaclue]

Don't tell me to amputate at the neck

You sound like my DH. He drilled his knuckle last Saturday. He very luckily has not developed an infection, you sound like you have a doosey.

Drive the 45 mins. and save the finger with some handy dandy meds. You can always drill it again later if you want....or there's always hammers

 

[Wallybear]

puncture wounds should be left open and healed from the inside out. Do not let it heal over. This will not allow the infection to escape and will move deeper into the body. Make sure the wound is open and try to squeeze out any infection several times a day. Right now you need to soak you hand in a hot Epson salts bath 2-3 times a day for 20 minutes.

If you have Lichen or Old Man's Beard http://www.flickr.com/photos/danyarose/1578671810/ You should also make a soaking compress of it and keep it on the wound.

 

[Our7Wonders]

I'm a huge fan of lots of fresh garlic taken internally for infecions along with oregano oil. I might apply the oregano oil topically too. Silver salve applied topically, or soaks in silver water would be beneficial as well.

I'd do the epsom salt soaks as well to try to draw out infection.

Thanks,
Debbi

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Open it up and soak in hot as you can stand water and epsom salts for 10 minutes every couple of hours till its better.

 

[Damummis]

Black drawing salve

 

[lwheelr]

Calendula and a hot pack.

Heat is itself a good remedy for infections. It has to be hot enough to be uncomfortable, but not hot enough to blister. One reason Poultices were used historically on wounds, is that the heat did drive out infections, so there was ample evidence that SOMETHING about them was working. The ingredients of the poultice were often less important than the heat. We often use a heating pad on infections, and that alone will drive out a minor one - you have to leave it on for an hour or more. Serious infections need something in addition to the heat.

Calendula is a natural anti-septic, and if you take the leaves and flowers (Calendula tea works for this), and soak them in just a little hot water for a few minutes, then slap them over the infection and cover with a hot towel for 10 minutes, it will help kick the infection.

My husband did this recently when he got a fairly deep series of gouges on his arm from an animal cage. It got nasty infected within 24 hours. He applied calendula hot packs once a day for about three days. Healed it up nicely.

You do have to remove any scab though, and drain any accumulated matter.

Important to understand that there are a LOT of natural ways to treat infections, and a LOT of ways that work. There isn't just one thing that will do it. Do whichever is most available for you.

There are three components of most natural remedies though:

Open the infected pocket to drain it.
Heat.
Natural antiseptic.

Hops will work too - but it will do more tissue damage than calendula because it is so strong, so you only apply it for 5 minutes.

 

[patandchickens]

I'm a big fan of the aforementioned "frequent soaks in water as hot as you can stand it, with enough epsom salts crystals in it that some won't dissolve despite stirring".

However I would add that if the infection appears to be spreading down your hand, esp. with reddish streaks into palm or wrist, that would be time to go to the emergency room right away (hours sometimes matter, where blood-poisoning is concerned).

Good luck, hope you're feeling better soon,

Pat

 

[lwheelr]

Calendula or Hops tea, garlic, echinacea tea, and a few other herbs can be used (singly or in combination) to help reduce the chance of the infection going systemic, and turning into septicemia (blood poisoning). Pat is right, streaks up the arm toward the heart are an indication that the blood vessels are getting infected and that the infection is going systemic.

Nasty condition, can kill.

 

[savingdogs]

I'm a big fan of the aforementioned "frequent soaks in water as hot as you can stand it, with enough epsom salts crystals in it that some won't dissolve despite stirring".

However I would add that if the infection appears to be spreading down your hand, esp. with reddish streaks into palm or wrist, that would be time to go to the emergency room right away (hours sometimes matter, where blood-poisoning is concerned).

Good luck, hope you're feeling better soon,

Pat

X2 I agree with this.