Let's be careful out there

Soooo hydrogen peroxide isn’t the greatest thing to wash wounds with... while it does Kill bacteria, it also kills your cells.
Iodine works better if you aren’t allergic to shellfish, then flush with lots of water.
 
I do a lot of work in salt marshes and a few years ago a guy I knew got a small cut and ignored it, a week later he was gone due to the flesh eating bacteria. I now keep a small kit with a tourniquet, quick clot gause, betadine/HiBiclean in it and sterile water to irrigate. Clean it, disenfect, cover it. The punctures are the scary ones because you can’t really treat them well yourself. I had my hand blow up after a fish fin last year and I tried to disinfect it immediately after the poke.
 
When I was in the hospital for my knee, I was told by the specialist that he sees more carpet installers/layers than any other profession. Weird... but he said the fibers can poke right through your clothing and are so small, they go unnoticed and can introduce all sorts of bacteria. I'm glad I have hardwood floors...... ha! NOBODY IS SAFE.... stay in bed!
 
I'm admittedly rather bad about treating cuts properly, even though I know the risks. Strangly I have a rather weak immune system as far as getting colds and flus goes, yet cuts, scrapes and the like almost never get infected regardless of how bad and dirty they are, and how poorly they get cleaned.
Of course now that I've said that I'll probably loose my hand to a paper cut...
 
A.McPherson said:
Soooo hydrogen peroxide isn’t the greatest thing to wash wounds with... while it does Kill bacteria, it also kills your cells.
Iodine works better if you aren’t allergic to shellfish, then flush with lots of water.
Click to expand...

The whole "shellfish allergy = allergy to iodine/iodinated contrast" is an urban myth. I deal with this daily. You literally cannot be allergic to iodine, as your thyroid requires it to keep you alive. Being allergic to shrimp or crabs just means you're allergic to shrimp or crabs. It is true that people with multiple (real) allergies have a greater chance of being allergic to something new, but that isn't that common.

The current medical standard is a chlorhexidine scrub (good ol' Hibiclens) unless documented allergic, in which case betadine (+/- followup isopropanol wipe down after drying) may be used. Killing a few of your own cells in a wound is not nearly as bad as leaving live bacteria in a deep puncture/wound. On the other hand, no need to go Rambo on yourself either. Wash with soap/Hibiclens, dry, neosporin to wound, cover with bandage, seek medical care if the wound is large/deep or the edges won't come together/you have specific concerns/you're immunocompromised or a poorly controlled diabetic/it won't stop bleeding.

Of note, the difference between an arterial injury and a venous injury is that veins ooze/slowly pour and arteries squirt (impressively). Treatment of both is to hold firm pressure until the bleeding stops (preferably with a hemostatic device like a QuikClot). For a vein injury, this could be 5-10 minutes (usually less, barring anticoagulation). For an arterial injury, 10-20 minutes for small vessels and "until you go to surgery" for anything bigger. A 1 mm artery will bleed you out in roughly 40-50 minutes if nothing is done to stop it. Bigger vessels will take substantially less time. If you are on anticoagulation of any sort, you must maintain pressure on the wound until you are seen by a trained medical professional for anything larger than a scrape.

Weird punctures (especially from anything marine/ocean based) probably require medical care immediately. Mycobacterium marinum can create nasty problems for you. Other seemingly benign things like rose thorn punctures can have weird infections (Sporothrix) that definitely require medical attention. No one will laugh at you for having your wound checked at the doctors office and it may just save your life.

Mike
 
The shellfish allergy is still one of those things that we are taught in EMT refreshers and the like... I’ll bow to superior medical training though.

As far as allergies go people can be allergic to weird stuff. A guy I work with is allergic to processed sugar. Weird right? Not just sensitive, full on anaphylactic distress. He carries epi with him because of it.
 
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It's a correlation <> causation thing. "I'm allergic to shellfish. Shellfish contains iodine. Therefore I am allergic to iodine." Except shellfish also contain water and a million other compounds. Iodine itself causing an allergic response would be like oxygen causing an allergic response.
 
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A.McPherson said:
The shellfish allergy is still one of those things that we are taught in EMT refreshers and the like... I’ll bow to superior medical training though.

As far as allergies go people can be allergic to weird stuff. A guy I work with is allergic to processed sugar. Weird right? Not just sensitive, full on anaphylactic distress. He carries epi with him because of it.
Click to expand...

Sorry to proselytize, man. I just get that question daily and got trained by the guy who was the world's expert on that specific topic.
 
MBB said:
Sorry to proselytize, man. I just get that question daily and got trained by the guy who was the world's expert on that specific topic.
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Don’t worry about it man! I’m not one of those guys who thinks that medicine as you learned it is gospel.
Medicine is science. You do the “best practice” until it’s proven not to be. Then you change to fit the new knowledge.
Despite what some think learning new things is good!
 
Hibiclens is soap. You have to wash with it. If you have any friends who work in the OR, they can probably swipe you a real chlorhexidine scrub sponge (e.g. stronger than Hibiclens) to add to your emergency kit.

The problem with spray-on stuff is that it doesn't penetrate deeply. So any dirt, clot, muck or whatever will prevent complete sterilization of the wound. Washing with some variety of soap is still best.
 
I do not know anyone allergic to iodine in my range. And I did'nt hear about it till yet. I use it from My child age. But You can use Septonex spray (or powder) instead of iodine.
 
If I ever cut myself i just wash it off with soap & water, let it dry, close the wound, and seal it with super glue. :eek:

Granted these are just small finger cuts though. Fortunately I haven't had anything serious enough to necessitate a doctors visit.
 
Just a note from a chemist:
Spideyjg said:
So if I ditch the H2O3 for Hibicleans can it go in a spray bottle?
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Earlier you said you use Hydrogen Peroxide, which is H2O2. H2O3 is hydrogen tri-oxide. It doesn't exist beyond a chemical equation, as it decomposes as soon as it forms.

I keep hibiclens and gauze in the trauma box. Much as it may hurt, scrubbing out a cut with gauze and surgical soap will pretty much assure a fast and trouble free healing of the wound.

This brings back a good/bad memory.
When I was 15 I was working on a mini-bike I built. I threw the chain while testing it out in the woods behind the house. While the engine idled I just popped it back on. The centrifugal clutch grabbed as the drum stopped free-spinning ... and my left index finger got caught and ran through the sprocket. It took the end right off. I wrapped my finger in my tee shirt, got on the bike, and rode home. I went in and told dad I had amputated the tip. Dad was an old master chief corpsman who had become an industrial medic/nurse after retiring ... and had seen it all. He took a look, took me to the bathroom, and scrubbed the hand and finger with dish soap and a finger brush to get the grease and dirt off. Boy, did that hurt. He got it clean enough, bandaged it up, and took me to meet the surgeon he worked with. Doc Miller ended up sewing my finger into my palm to grow some new tissue to make a tip from. I spend four months that way. Doc Miller commented on how clean the wound area was. Dad and I just looked at each other and grinned.
 
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