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tetanus from bad scrap?

post #1 of 7
8/25/10 at 12:38pm
Thread Starter 
just a few minutes ago i caught my inner foot just below my ankle on the bottom of the screen door and scrapped out a huge chunk of flesh. it's about a inch long and pretty deep and wide. the screen door is ancient and i believe it's aluminium. i haven't had a tetanus shot in probably 15 years. i rinsed it with peroxide and put on a large bandaid with ABX cream. do i need to worry about tetanus?
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post #2 of 7
8/25/10 at 12:43pm
I wouldn't. You did all the right things, even from a medical professioanls perspective.
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post #3 of 7
8/25/10 at 1:34pm
How deep? Lots of bleeding? Tetanus can take hold when air can't get to the bacteria. If it's deep enough that air isn't in the cut I'd probably think I had some risk. FWIW, my son had a similar wound and required stitches. Because of the stitches I decided he needed it given there was no air at that point (and some other complicating factors in that the gouged flesh had been forced up underneath the skin on the outer edges of the wound). I don't know what i would have done had he not needed stitches and had the flesh come off as it would have been more open. As far as medical perspective I'm not a medical professional but they did a shot with my father in a pretty similar situation so maybe it depends on the professional. At any rate, if it is getting air I'd feel comfortable leaving it.
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post #4 of 7
8/25/10 at 2:54pm
Thread Starter 
it's wide enough, unfortunately, to get lots of air. how deep, um... i could fit an ibuprofen tablet in it and still have some room to spare. it didn't really bleed despite the large amount of flesh taken out. i don't think stitches would even be possible because of where it is on my foot. they would just bust open from walking.

i'll give it a good wash in the shower and rinse it again with peroxide and keep it covered since it's my inner foot and will get dirty. i'll probably be sporting socks for a bit to help keep it clean.
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post #5 of 7
8/26/10 at 8:28pm
If it bled and you cleaned it, it is fine, imo. They would only offer the Td which does nothing for current tetanus exposure. Immuoglobulin would not be offered unless it were a very dirty cut, which hadn't been cleaned for a long duration, or a dirty crush injury.

Cleaning it with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), the extra oxygen kills tetanus spores.

Here are a few old threads to help:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...s#post14767379
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...s#post14061179
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...us#post9795277
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...us#post5117270


The tetanus booster does nothing for a current exposure. So no need to do that.

Heat helps to kill tetanus spores. Maybe soak your foot in some really hot Epsom salts to help with wound healing.


Pat
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post #6 of 7
8/27/10 at 1:00am
Thread Starter 
thanks Pat. awesome help as always. i think at this point i don't think i need to worry about tetanus. just a regular old infection could be possible. it's still really inflamed but it's sealing up a bit. the skin all around it is not happy but i think that's just from the trauma of the injury. i'm going to do a epsom salt soak. i completely spaced about how effective they are. thanks.
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post #7 of 7
8/27/10 at 6:14pm
Coconut oil kills staph, the most common skin infection. Even MRSA is killed by coconut oil, lavender and Manuka honey. I'd try one of those and some homeopathic Silcea which helps address potential wound abscesses.

I'd do vit C, zinc, magnesium, sunshine, vit D, Omega 3 fatty acids, whole food probiotics all help the body to fight infection.

Pat
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