Welcome to the Melbourne Community Daily Discussion Thread.

  • DirigibleProtein@aussie.zone
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    1 year ago

    Last night I woke up in the middle of the night with my thumb hurting. (Not asking for medical advice, just sharing my misery). Swollen and bright pink, with a hole in the skin. Couldn’t get a doctor’s appointment until today. Throbbing all day yesterday, and now I can’t sleep from the pain. Anxiety about flesh eating bacteria and having it amputated.

    • Thornburywitch@aussie.zone
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      1 year ago

      Go to doctor stat. You really really don’t want this puncture wound to go septic and develop gangrene. Easily done when pruning roses. Happened to me once and I had to have the classic penicillin injection in my butt - with what felt like a sharpened hosepipe. Could not sit down for a week. Don’t recommend.
      PS I now wear gloves to do the garden - strong recommend for this practice going forward.

      • just_kitten@aussie.zone
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        1 year ago

        Just in the last few months I’ve read two stories about horrific infections from browsing around in soil gloveless - first the worm in the woman’s brain from foraging, then the recently published report of the Sydney woman who got blackleg disease from gardening soil - a bacteria normally found in livestock which was eating her bowels up and nearly killed her last year but for a new mode of treatment.

        I don’t care what people say about getting a bit o’ dirt in your bowels, I’d rather not have the other stuff as well thanks.

    • brave@aussie.zone
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      1 year ago

      Unless you went swimming somewhere you should have zero worries. Maybe a bug bite ?

      • DirigibleProtein@aussie.zone
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        1 year ago

        I was thinking maybe a spider bite, I had been gardening. Oh well, I’ve got a thumb on the other hand, she’ll be right mate.

        • jaybb3rw0cky@aussie.zone
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          1 year ago

          Whitetails and necrosis is something that worries the hell out of me. I don’t care that they’re not deadly - I don’t want no flesh-eating spidey bite to remind me some little fucker was able to invade me like that!

          I know you’re not looking for medical advice so I’ll just say, hopefully you’ve managed to use antiseptic on the area and given it a good clean (or three). That and ibuprofen might help with the swelling.

          • Taleya@aussie.zone
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            1 year ago

            I’ve been bitten to hell by whitetails: they take ages to heal but the whole necrosis thing is wildly overblown. It’s been found in most cases the “necrosis” was actually caused by something else - diabetes, staph, etc etc. If you have diabetes, mild concern (as always) but don’t get paranoid to hell over a whitetail bite.

            • jaybb3rw0cky@aussie.zone
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              1 year ago

              Huh, the more you know! I worked with a guy who got necrosis from a white tail - but he was definitely a candidate for pre-diabetes so that could explain it. And look, it wasn’t that bad, maybe like a pinky nail-sized hole? But still, I can deal with a lot of things. Spiders, nope. Not a fan of something so small being able to damage me like that.

              • Taleya@aussie.zone
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                1 year ago

                Perfectly reasonable for random things to give you The Ick, but don’t let it drive you unreasonably nuts - get it checked, then it’s sorted and all happy makings.

    • Taleya@aussie.zone
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      1 year ago

      flesh eating: unlikely. Puncture with a bit of an infection: sorted with penicillin. Spider bite: possible, also treatable.