First aid?

Knife_Geek

Knife_Geek

Joined
Mar 11, 2007
Messages
866
I saw a post a couple weeks ago that im having no luck in finding about a readily available infection fighter. it was something that is just put onto a surface infection and draws it out. Anyone know what im talking about?
 
There is no such thing. Once an infection enters your blood stream either your body's natural defenses or an Rx is the only thing that will cure it. Most infections contracted in the woods are bacterial. You can wash the wound and use a topical antibiotic or soak minor wounds in very warm water but that is about it. Topicals are also used in conjuntion with meds. Fortunately you shouldn't have to worry about MSRA when in the woods unless you get it from your buddy but once you return to civilization you should keep the wound clean and covered.

The over use of antibiotics have gotten us where we are today with resistant bacteria. New antibiotics will have to be developed at a pace faster than bacteria can mutate. This is a true medical emergency.
 
no i remember a couple of people talking about a topical something or other that dealt with infections.
 
builderman0924 said:
no i remember a couple of people talking about a topical something or other that dealt with infections.
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There is topical antibiotics (ointments), like basatracin, that are supposed to help keep infection out of your body. That's supposed to be 'preventative'- your'e not fighting an infection that's in your blood stream.
 
Honey is an excellent anti bacterial agent and speeds healing as is increases the flow of leucocytes .Been successfully used for thousands of years but it's to prevent and will do nothing for things already in the blood stream !
 
builderman0924 said:
no i remember a couple of people talking about a topical something or other that dealt with infections.
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Maybe you are thinking about something like a Triple Antibiotic Ointment? This type of surface rememdy will work well at preventing a wound from becoming infected (assuming it's not a deep penetrating wound with foreign matter involved). However, if a wound has already become infected then topically applied remedies shouldd't have much effect.

There are those who will claim that certain poltices of herbs, etc, can "draw" an infection out. I've yet to see any real data to back up those claims.

Sean
 
I'll get laughed at for this, but I was working in the woods in winter years ago and had a wood stove burn on my hand that had opened and was enlarging rapidly. I hate antibiotics--took too many of them (six months of huge doses of four types) after I got TB working in Africa--but I was about to hit the doctors to get some. Then a guy I was working with saw the sore and told me to put Vitamin E oil on it. Within 48 hours it was 90% healed. One of the damnedest things I've seen.
 
Tea tree oil and honey are great for wounds. Add them together and you get a super infection fighter. A couple drops of pure Tea Tree oil mixed in with a teaspoon of (non pasturized) honey healed a non stitched gaping wound on my leg 2 years ago. I just slathered it into the wound after cleaning and put a non adherant dressing over it. I cleaned it once per day.

And yes it does fight MRSA bacteria or so the literature says.

Skam
 
Tea tree oil may indeed help fight MRSA. If you suspect MRSA get your butt to the doctor fast! Nasty, nasty stuff. Honey helps with wounds and may help prevent infection if the wound is packed with honey. Did we already have a thread on honey, maybe last year?

Vitamin E oil is said to help heal the skin. I don't think it has antibacterial properties but I could be wrong.
 
I don't know of any anti-bacterial action with vitamin E either >It is excellent fr burns .The best I've found for healing and treating burns is a salve I have of vitamin E and Aloe Vera ,both long known for those effects !!
 
Tea tree oil may indeed help fight MRSA. And yes it does fight MRSA bacteria or so the literature says.
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:jerkit: :jerkit: :jerkit: What literature would that be?

"Triple antibiotic" and "Bacitracin" are the same thing. Get generic. It will do fine.

MRSA isn't a concern unless you cut your leg in a nursing home.
 
nemoaz said:
That, sadly, is completely false...
MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus) was, until a couple of years ago, primarily a hospital-acquired infection...

It has leaped into the community in the past ~three years in a BIG way. So much so that virtually all skin abscesses seen from the community are, in fact, MRSA! We treat every cutaneous abscess as MRSA in my ER practice.

As to the question posed by the thread, I don't know of any particular topical treatment that will act in the fashion you describe.

Honey has long been recommended as a topical antiseptic. IIRC, it is largely due to the hypertonic nature of honey. BUT, be warned that spore forming bacteria can be found in honey (Clostridiun botulinum, specifically) and can cause illness. This is why children under the age of one year old should not be given honey!

Wive's tale? Urban legend?! Not on your life! I've seen a case of Botulism in an infant here in the CONUS resulting from honey ingestion. (Infant's digestive system won't destroy the spores for reasons that currently escape me...)

That said, if I were in the sticks and needed to treat a wound and all I had was honey, I'd do it...

Interesting thread...

MP
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I just carry triple antibiotic ointment in my kits, and use fresh aloe vera goo at home. Both seem to work well, preventing infection and thereby letting it heal faster. I don't know if aloe actually kills bacteria, promotes your body's healing response, or just protects the wound, but it helps and is soothing. Never had to use either on a bad wound (knock on wood).

knifedoctor, the bottle of honey I have here is clearly labeled "Do not feed to infants under 1 year of age" and I recall our doctor making that very clear to us when my kid was little.

This MSRA thing is new to me, and a bit scary... what should you do if you suspect it, and how would you know? (besides going to a professional, of course)

On a more general note, I remember grandma swabbing Witch Hazel on skeeter bites to relieve itch, and using it to make ticks let go. Now I find out it has all sorts of handy uses: http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/withaz27.html The tincture is quite cheap in the grocery store, a couple bucks at most. :thumbup:
 
k-doc this subject interests me because two of my friends have had CA-MRSA and they both darn near died from it. Here in homelessville the advocates are always screaming, literally, for the cops and the gov't to leave them alone. Lately they have started scraming, literally, for the gov't to deal with MRSA. I am on a mission to increase awareness of MRSA at my kids middle school, esp by the wrestlers.The high school has stopped using showers after PE class due to complaints by gay students so a primary means of defense has been lost. Middle school students don't shower either. The kids spray Axe on themselves after PE to fight the smell don't don't wash with soap. Stupid in my opinion but that is the way it is.

Question. If a Pt enters the ER with what appears to be MRSA do you do a tissue culture?

I visit two other forums, one being Lightfighter. In the Tactical Medicine thread there has been quite a few posts on MRSA including some good images and interesting links.
 
nemoaz said:
:jerkit: :jerkit: :jerkit: What literature would that be?

"Triple antibiotic" and "Bacitracin" are the same thing. Get generic. It will do fine.

MRSA isn't a concern unless you cut your leg in a nursing home.
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You are a piece of work realy.. MRSA and MANY other nasties are a concern everywhere. Buy some windex for that bubble you live in.

10 sec google search.

http://www.geocities.com/chadrx/teatree.html

Skam
 
It has leaped into the community in the past ~three years in a BIG way. So much so that virtually all skin abscesses seen from the community are, in fact, MRSA! We treat every cutaneous abscess as MRSA in my ER practice.
Click to expand...

Not what I'm hearing around here.... but I don't know what community you are in. And with all do respect, I when I used to represent ER groups and hospitals more regularly, I found that the local practices varied widely from area to area, and even from hospital to hospital within a community.

Carrying something for MRSA (or any other specific microbe) isn't on my short list of emergency items. Not even close.
 
nemoaz please tell us your credentials. To me at least you sound like a minor league BSer.
 
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