so, on my early morning sat. commute to the eye doctor and i fell down. it was a sunny morning and no one was around, not even a car. the birds were singing and i didn't even mind going into uptown. i fell infront of lowery hill liquer on hennipen. i hit a bump in the road and i went down and totally gave my right left bad raseberrys. i had two bad scraps on my ankel. now one of the scraps on my ankel got my whole foot infected. it is blown up and my shoes don't fit, well, my batabatas do (flip flops).
what to do?
do i have to go get antibiotics?
how long to wait?
it hurts.

i did the proper thing-i cleaned out the wound with whiskey (i am kidding) -i did use rubbing alcohol and some other anti bacterial spray. then lots of neosporan...what else to do?
maybe i shoulda used the whiskey.

Don't forget the bucket underneath so you don't loose good whiskey; you're liver will never know the difference.


Go to the clinic and get seen. Does your foot hurt to walk on, bend, pressure applied?

btw, this posted could use some photos

Yeah, time to visit the doctor. It certainly sounds like a serious enough booboo.

If it is infected, go to the doctor. If it were my foot, for home treatment I would soak it twice a day in hot soapy water, for 20 minutes, using Dreft detergent--the stuff they wash diapers with. I had to do that when I was a kid (doctor's orders) and had warts cut off my feet. Especially if you see any red streaks going up your leg, go to the doctor. I think they would give you antibiotics for that.

By the way, I used to live at Franklin and Fremont, about five blocks from there, in the days when Becky's Cafeteria was near the site of your accident.

Definitely doctor time. Infections can get serious very quickly.

Also I'm not certain that rubbing alcohol is considered a good idea for disinfecting open wounds? I'd have used just soap and water initially, maybe hydrogen peroxide.

Do you have a reason NOT to go to a doctor, like no insurance? You should go -- sooner is better... If it's a money issue you can consider a walk-in clinic, which may be cheaper, or explain to the Dr. that you have no insurance (some places'll give you a discount if you're paying, since the insurance companies never pay their full fees anyway) or the hospital... A public hospital will treat you even if you can't pay, if it's serious (which it sounds like it could be).

If you've got red streaks going up your leg, you're really fu**ed. That's blood poisoning. Then it's time to call the ambulance so they can amputate your leg.

If you have no insureance, go to the ER and deal with the medical bill.

I learned along time ago how to self-treat wounds, but there's two problems with self treatment:

a) you are for the most part assured long-lasting scars (look at my calf pic in the "leg pic" thread for a prime example)
b) there's a pretty good chance someone who's not very well trained will make the injury FAR more worse

Go to the hostpital, ASAP! You might be able to get by on antibiotics if you do it like now.


Oh, and next time....right when you get home after doing something like this, mix 1pt providone iodine with 9 parts distilled water, bring to a boil, let cool for a few mins (must still be HOT, as in discomfort hot, not scalding hot), and using a dropper put this solution into the wound. This will help ward off infection. You still need to hit a doctor though.

That booboo is SERIOUS, you can get phlebitis which is an infection of the blood vessels, you don't want that - you'll see red tracks going up your arm, leg, whatever, leading from the infected area and it's just bad news.

You need to get looked at, and the walk-in clinic is a good idea, you can negotiate with the bill, they often DO give a discount if you're paying cash and a credit card is just as good as cash.

You're talking about losing your foot or getting VERY sick or losing your life maybe, so this is not something to fool with.

OK, I have to go to the doctor today. I woke up last nite at 2am and my foot and leg were warm-really warm, no red streaks, but I am going. I was getting a free load of antibiotics delivered to my house tonite, but I cannot wait until 8 or 9 tonite. I am going this morning.
Everyone had great responces. The deft was wonderful.
I am off to the Minute Clinic that opens at 8am! I want to be first in line.

Angel, let us know what the Dr. says... we're all worried about you .

hey everyone,
the doctor told me i kept very good care of my wound and that she was surprised it was not cleaned by a professional. i did a great job at scraping it, getting the puss out, and keeping it clean. i said that is what you get from having both your grandma's as professional nurses and a dad who was a medic. not to mention great ideas from the members of bike forums. also, living in a third world country for a year or so you learn how to survive on minimal medical supplies.

i am on antibiotics. i am to watch it because as you know an infection can turn at any moment. i am too keep it elevated as much as posible and continue with cleaning proceedures.

my second complaint is about the health care industry. now i work in benefits as a job. i assist people everyday in figuring what is wrong with their claims. so, today i am at target and my script provider has no information on our cards. this is a problem. no wonder so many people i work with everyday have problems getting their scripts. the correct information in not provided easily on the cards for them. i was lucky. i knew was a bin no was and said i would fax it to them later. trouble though, why is the health care industry to difficult. if i would not have my current job i would still being trying to get my drugs! or worse the doctor would not have seen me. i am concerned about this and i know my providers are not the only ones at fault. i have done what i could do. i raised the issue to my supervisor and she had me send and email to the vp of our benefits and administration of health plans. we will see what happens.
now i understand why people call me crying. i can't get my perscriptions! some of them young and some of them retired. maybe my company doesn't know there is an issue, until now, maybe some of the cards printed were miss printed missing info. ...

i do want to say i am not outta the woods yet, but having anti biotics makes my conscience calm down a bit.
i still gotta watch, as you all said for stiffness in my knee and legs as well as red lines.
thanks for all the suggestions..............................................

My initial infection went away and I have not had any issues, but it was a staff infection. I recently (two days ago) received another injury from a roofing nail (I am reconstructing my attic into a loft) and the staff infection is back. I go again to the doctor for yet another round of anti biotics. grr.
I am cleaning up all those nails like an anul freak and somehow one of them got into my bedroom and at 5:30 am when I got up to feed my cat, I stepped on one. I keep slippers by my bed, but I looking for them in the dark. grr.

another battle. Why can't a couch potato get these infections and not be able to walk. Oh, don't worry I walk funny/hobble funny, but I can still ride a bike.