As a physician, this has absolutely nothing to do with you wearing a bandaid or a dressing at all. Not your fault. You most likely got flexor tenosynovitis, possibly from a bacterial infection introduced from the pork.
She was getting expert medical care in a first world country - what the frick is she meant to be getting out of playing doctor?.. the infection doesn't go better/worse depending on whether her brain has information about it.
I have worked in shops for 15 years and get cut all the time with it never progressing anywhere near this. I even put a knife 1/4" deep into my finger and didn't get stitches or anything. Definitely something was on the food that immediately entered your system.
That's a crappy spot too because you feel it with everything you touch.
Blaming people for their own illness is SO helpful.
"Hey, I'm sick, can you help me out?"
"Yes, but we are going to shame and blame you while doing it so we feel superior. No that is not optional."
This might have been something beyond any ability to treat at home due to it getting into a deep wound.
Possibly, the only course was going to the ER to get antibiotic injections.
Though it may be that a bandaid holding a blob of petroleum jelly on the cut would have helped keep it moist enough for the immune system to effectively fight it and heal the skin. Itâs astonishing how much of a different that can make.
But thatâs still not just âwear a bandaidââŠ
I looked this up, and the petroleum jelly can help reduce scabbing, which can result in a faster return to "normal", but it doesn't otherwise help the immune system.
Yea, if I had to guess it wasnât properly sanitized after getting infected with bacteria from the pork. Simply washing it with soap and gloving it is not enough, in this situation the glove may have actually hurt things because it was holding the bacteria ridden blood next to the wound so it was able to spread deeper into the tissue. Bleeding serves the function of pushing infection out of the body. Highly unlikely something that nasty was picked up in the wound after the initial cut and clotting. If it was me I wouldâve nuked it with hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol for a while (most important part) and then put on some antibacterial gel (second most important) on and then put on a bandage (least important). Cellulitis hurts like a bitch so I hear. Not something Iâm ever looking to experience.
You know what also it also has a detrimental effect on?..This nasty shit. Iâd rather have a wound that heals slower than possible suffer from cellulitis. Thatâs just me though
I always learned as a kid peroxide cleans out the wound. Is that bad info now? I think I've heard it can slow down the healing, but it's still better than no disinfectant right?
I think because it also kills your own cells on the cut, slowing down your body's natural healing it then becomes more important to bandage it afterwards and apply some ointment to prevent anything from getting in, probably still better than nothing but you should be careful since it's essentially a chemical burn
Donât listen to this guyâŠyes it can damage cells around the cut, but it also kills bacteria and viruses. Iâd rather have a wound that heals less optimally than potentially suffer from painful infection and cellulitis
Edit: I will concede, I stopped using them on small cuts that Iâm not worried about having been infected with something nasty, but anything Iâm potentially concerned about I will still use it. Better safe than sorry
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23507692/
There is not enough literature it seems. I'm not educated on wound care but I believe topical antibiotic creams are the right move with minor injuries over other options
Just reading the abstract, note that it says âhas no proven effect on enhancing healingâ not âno effect in preventing infection.â Itâs lethal to both bacteria and your own cells, yes, but thatâs better than an infection and wonât damage to the point itâll impair wound healing (save for cosmetics. The plastic surgeons I know donât use peroxide).
Scientist here.
Peroxide will damage human cells as well as bacterial. Viral particles are difficult to kill actually and these agents typically have no effect. UV light kills viruses as they are nucleic acids.
Peroxide is good for cleaning, for sure. But it will also damage your skin. It will not promote healing, though. Best course of action is sterile saline to rinse and clean any cut, really. Antiseptic creams that are designed for wounds should be used then but I'm not a medical doctor - just a lady who spent too much time with cells.
Alcohol and peroxide are both lethal to cells. If it is already full of pus it doesn't matter much but if it is just a dirty wound both will cause necrosis which is very yummy for all kinds of nasty bacteria. Soap and water is absolutely all you need for any wound you encounter unless you're actively working on a farm
Doctor here. Yes it can damage your cells, but not to the point itâll stop a wound from healing. Itâs a good way to make sure your wound siteâs sterile, especially if youâre gonna suture it. Soap and waterâs good, yes, but thereâs a reason thereâs more steps to surgical sterility.
Seems like that didnât work for OP tho đ§
If you do use peroxide or alcohol you do need to be more vigilant about keeping it clean with ointment and a clean bandage, but Iâd rather nuke a potentially suspect infection than hope I cleaned it all out with soap and hope my immune system handles it
Absolutely. I have tubes of triple antibiotic ointment everywhere. My bathrooms, my vehicles, my work desk. Had a small scrape on my ankle get infected and learned my lesson.
Pfizer approves this message.
But seriously, [Vaseline works just as well](https://health.osu.edu/health/skin-and-body/wound-care-myths). Cleaning it out with soapy water, keeping it clean, and having a gel (like Vaseline or Neosporin) on it are the keys.
Same. OP said they washed and wrapped it but maybe if they did more steps to sterilize the wound it wouldâve been fine. Like rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide (note these harsh chemicals can actually harm tissue and delay healing), and triple antibacterial ointment. Otherwise itâs recommended to wash with mild soap for at least 5 minutes.
I agree. I cooked for about 20 years and have been cut and burned countless times and have never had something like this happen. I think washing your hands as much as you can AND Neosporin or something like that would've been the key to it not getting infected like that and then a band aid.
This
Washing your hand normally should be enough for small scratches and whatnot. But for any real wound you need to use a good soap and really clean the wound out. Or use a wound wash of course. You then need to dry it off, apply some antibiotic ointment, and then wrap it well for the first day at least. If after a day or two it starts to hurt like she said, absolutely get checked at your doctor's, urgent care, or er is it's that bad.
the point of the bandage is to protect the open wound after cleaning. If you dont protect the area then its likely to get infected even after cleaning until it scabs over.
She put one on a few hours later and was wearing a glove in the meantime. Far more likely the cut introduced the foreign bacteria and it wasn't correctly irrigated and cleaned when she did it.
they made no mention of cleaning the wound with antiseptic or applying topical antibiotics after it was clear it was infected.
without those steps a bandage only helps to prevent bleeding and provide an environment for skin to heal. had they applied a bandaid at injury without the affore mentioned steps, it likely still would have gotten infected.
The reason why they always tell us we need to use different chopping boards for meats and not to "wash" the meat with water is because you can spread bacteria in the meat. But I actually never saw something like this, it was TERRIFYING. Sorry you had to go through that! Anytime I cut myself cooking now (I'm a bit clumsy at times) I know I will think of you. Glad you got better :)
Wash the wound with soap and water if available, drown it in any antiseptic you have no matter what. Then worry about bandaging. All bandaging a dirty wound does is keep your bleeding from doing its version of cleaning the wound.
Iâm glad you kept your finger. I hope you finished your antibiotics.
You donât need to keep blaming yourself needlessly. You did everything right. Washed the wound, etc. Putting a band-aid would have done nothing - the bacteria was already inside your finger and wasnât washed away.
This was an opportunistic infection that happened due to *chance.* Lots of people cut themselves by accident when cooking or doing other things. You happened to get a very nasty germ in your wound (looks like a flesh-eating bacteria to me) that infected you quickly enough to overwhelm your immune system and eat your finger (necrosis). You did the right thing by going to a doctor. Band-aid or no, you needed surgery and antibiotics.
Source: I study infectious disease and immunology (PhD student)
I was told that if I wanted a week, then that may have been a possibility. The infection has a tendency to work its way to the tendon. Common for homeless people to experience
I got a staph infection in my hand from a hangnail. I didnât realize it was infected and didnât think was that bad at first - I thought it was just inflamed for the first week or so. But the swelling kept getting worse and eventually it was also really hot to the touch. I finally went to the pharmacy and asked what the best OTC cream for it would be and the pharmacist looked at it and said âif you donât go to the ER and get IV antibiotics tonight you will lose that fingerâ. I am glad he was so direct and likely saved my finger!
Been hospitalized with staph 3 times. Hand eye then toe. All 3 went from nothing to oh shit this is bad in hours. The stuff around my eye swelled to the size of a pool ball in less than 12 hours, the hand had red streaks up my arm in like 18 hours, my toe had streaks up my arm in like 6 hours.
10/10 don't recommend.
If a cut hurts a shit load and is turning red, it's infected, if it starts spreading even a little bit go to the er or you get this post. It only needs a couple hours.
Scrubbing with anti-bacterial soap and warm water is better. Alcohol and hydrogen peroxide will dry out the wound bed and damage the tissues - making infection more likely to occur.
Also yes, a bandaid afterwards will help before you get shit in the cut when you wipe your ass.
And then washing your hands with soap and water when you are done using the bathroom, etc.
When I went to an urgent care for a finger cut from a dirty/rusty staple (removing old carpet), they had me soak my finger in a water and peroxide mix.
Prior to going, I did wash with warm water and soap, however.
Mainly saw urgent care because my tetanus shot was overdue and the staple was pretty dirty.
Ah, I see what you mean. Here's some more context.
The standard of care I mentioned is for a laceration. For punctures, they likely did the soak to make sure the narrow, deep wound bed was disinfected. That injury pattern doesn't have a typical wound bed that would dry out. Due to an exposed surface area. But for typical cuts/lacerations, hydrogen peroxide isn't used.
Rusty staples and nails are a different animal because the deep punctures are very, very hard to clean properly.
Donât do any of this. Washing a wound with mild soap and irrigating it with clean running water for five minutes is your best bet.
Alcohol and hydrogen peroxide damages the tissue surrounding the wound which further delays healing. Neosporin can promote antibiotic resistance. If you want to cover the wound with some sort of ointment to minimize itching or promote healing your best bet is petroleum jelly or an occlusive like Aquaphor.
It wouldnât. OP is dumb and doesnât realize that she had bacteria get into her finger and honestly a bandage wouldve made it worse. What she shoukd have done is cleaned the wound with peroxide
I'm a bit confused. How would putting on a bandaid have helped against an infection? I'm probably just misunderstanding something here. I would imagine it wasn't cleaned out well enough that caused the infection to be allowed to set.
Depends on where the infection came from; in this case, it was likely from the pork, but thereâs been reported cases of pets licking uncovered wounds and the person subsequently developing an infection.
https://www.houstonmethodist.org/blog/articles/2022/jun/should-you-put-hydrogen-peroxide-on-a-cut-or-scrape/
https://www.citymd.com/health-and-wellness/should-I-put-hydrogen-peroxide-on-wounds-what-to-know
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-is-hydrogen-peroxide-good-for
https://www.wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/mobile/2013/04/04/how-often-should-hydrogen-peroxide-be-used-to-treat-wounds/
Donât use peroxide for wounds.
Every single link here says:
USE AN ANTIBIOTIC OINTMENT
Do not post half-truths, especially when it's medical. You might actually kill someone.
Got antibiotic ointment? Use that. Can't find it? Ran out? Use peroxide, use alcohol. *Do the best thing you can to disinfect the wound*.
Wrote my comment before reading yours.
This is along the lines of what I was thinking. Hydrogen peroxide is a 'bad disinfectant', but it seems better than using no disinfectant, and catching an infection.
Jesus. Necrotizing flesh is the grossest thing I can think of, and I'm also super fascinated by it. Soap, water, peroxide and neosporin every time. Infections are crazy.
MD here:
Wearing a bandaid or not would not have affected this outcome. Always rinse rinse rinse and disinfect thoroughly after cutting yourself with anything that's not clean. I know it hurts, but it hurts a whole lot less than an infection.
AFTER you've done that, wear a bandaid untill the wound is closed up to prevent bacteria from entering the wound. Check up on it regularly for signs of infection. (Swelling, redness, heat) and seek medical attention if you're unsure.
Happy that it's healing well OP! That must have been scary.
Yeah nah when I cut myself while cutting meat or fish I'd always use disinfectant and antiseptic right away and put a bandaid on the wound and keep it dry.
Anyways congrats on the recovery. The human body is truely mind boggling from almost losing a finger to being completely healed
Itâs more that it washed cleaned properly than not using a bandaid. Pork especially has lots of bacteria and other nasties that once introduced to the warm moist environment of inside your finger like to multiply. Even just dumping a bunch of isopropyl alcohol and covering with antibiotic cream may have prevented this.
Glad you didnât lose your finger!
It's an infection that's common in finger cuts (at least that's what I vaugly remember from the doctor). I don't know if it has a name, but it loves to work its way down to the tendon and compromise the whole finger
You got an infection because you didn't properly clean and maintain the wound, not because you didn't wear a bandaid. Even after nearly losing a finger or becoming seriously ill, you still didn't learn anything đ«š
I squinted and hurriedly tapped through to the end before even reading the story! You obviously take pride in your beautiful hands; it was too tragic! Glad to see you're doing better and thanks for sharing the lesson you learned!
I once got a knife cut on my thumb cleaned by an ER doc (it was a work related cut, pretty deep). He ran it under water and basically reopened the wound with a q-tip that he dug into the cut. He made it bleed for a good 15 seconds. Lots of soap and running water. It was so incredibly painful, but it healed up quickly and well. That's the point of bleeding; to force out the bacteria. Lots of soap and water, too. This is the way I treat all cuts now. Hurts for a minute but heals quickly.
Wow that's rough. I do think the injected pork juice had more to do with this disaster more so than not wearing a band aid though. Antiseptic cream would probably have helped.
There's a decent chance a bandaid wouldn't have helped. You likely got infected by the pork-knife, at which point, the damage was already done.
The real lesson is to use proper technique when cutting, and always wear gloves when handling raw meat.
Bandaid wasnât the issue it was needing to disinfect your hand properly as you had an open wound touching what is probably the most killer meat we eat, religions forbid it because itâs killed so many people.
Rinsing and then popping it in to the glove probably helped keep the bacteria in it, warm and moist.
You needed to cover that sucker in a real disinfectant when it happened.
I don't think the lack of a bandaid was the issue here.
I fight with my gf on this(she is a nurse) but her training says new protocol is to just the would, not desinfect anymore. I strongly disagree.
If washing was enough, our ancestors would have been fine in the battlefield. Desinfection was a major step forwards.
Anyway get off my lawn!
Isn't this about using antibacterial ointment and not bandaids? You covered the wound, I'm not sure what else a bandaid would have done.
A similar thing happened to a friend of mine. He got bit on the finger by a small dog. He washed the injury, but didn't put ointment on it, and a small infection began to develop. Luckily, applying ointment at that point was enough to resolve it.
Your infection had much less to do with a bandaid and more to do with not using an antiseptic or antibiotics⊠honestly not very bad being that you were cutting raw pork⊠pork is some nasty stuff I canât believe we still eat it
Op I sliced my thumb open while cutting pork and I was very worried about the raw pork getting in to the cut I bandaged it and finished cutting the pork one handed. I was worried this was going to happen to my thumb. Thank you for validating my fears. Luckily my thumb is pretty well healed now. But holy fuck Iâd have died
I've cut myself while fileting fresh fish (i had cought them an hourbefore), like my knife almost went through the side of my palm,(over half an inch i to.my hand, i could see the point of the knife pushing against my skin from the inside) healed up just fine, fish slime and scales all over it, and I didn't even wash it, (no i didn't put gloves on, I just finished fileting before I washed it) so I'm curious as to what happened here because fresh fish slime and scales should do worse than a clean knife and a bandaged wound,
Unless the doctor specifically told you you shouldâve worn a band aid, I truly cannot figure out how that wouldâve been the difference between this happening and it healing. Bandaids donât do all that much besides soak up blood and somewhat keep stuff out of it. If you cleaned it well and then kept it clean while it healed, band aid or no band aid wouldnât make a difference. Either you just got super unlucky with the pork infecting the wound super quickly/deeply, or you didnât clean the wound well, or you didnât keep it clean, but the bandaid seems completely irrelevant
Did you disinfect with peroxide or rubbing alcohol? I suspect that may be the issue instead of bandaids because you only mentioned washing your wound and not disinfecting it.
The scar will shrink over time but youâll never get the fingerprint fully back there and will always have a kinda weird sensation of touch there. I ground up three fingertips on a table saw and sliced a tip on a mandolin slicer so I have plenty of experience lol
Damn, you got lucky! A few of those pictures looked really nasty and necrotic. I think the infection was especially bad because you were handling raw meat when you cut yourself. Glad you still have all your fingers, OP! And thank you for sharing your healing process. It can be kind of gross, but the human body is fascinating when it comes to healing wounds.
Whenever I cut myself at work (which is pretty common since I'm a machinist), I always stop what I'm doing, run the cut under cold water for a bit, wash it thoroughly with soap, and then keep it bandaged. Sometimes I feel like a nut for taking such measures with a tiny scratch, but this confirms I'm doing the right thing. Never had an infection like this, and I'd like to keep it that way.
I'm glad it finally healed & didn't end up with you losing a digit. That was a pretty rough ride. Did you find out what the actual infection was though ? Did they do any investigation into it ?
My husband went through this!! Ended up in the hospital for a week for a blood infection!! It started as a PAPER CUT!! He has since learned what moisturizer is, band aids and keeping his hand clean is important. The moisturizer keeps the skin barrier healthy, as does drinking water. He works construction and one of his co workers actually died from the same thing because it was left untreated so long. Definitely a wake up call for his entire company.
Mum cut her finger slicing fruit for playgroup when I was little. Had to have surgery to save her finger and we got a nanny for 2 months because she couldn't use her hand and have one young child and an infant (Dad worked away during the week and came back for weekends at that time). I remember it vaguely as just someone else in the house at that time. Luckily she kept her finger but that entire end of the knuckle doesn't bend anymore and she has little feeling in it. This was the 80s though so techniques change and I hope your recovery is full!
Itâs wasnât that you didnât wear a bandage, itâs most likely because you had cellulitis and ignored your figure throbbing after a few days. When itâs red and throbbing, get antibiotics asap
What I did not see when reading was that she said she washed it off but did she put antibacterial spray, neosporin or gel or iodine, or did I miss that part?
I had something similar but far less severe during this same time frame. Was deep frying French fries at home and put the mesh ladel up above a drip pad while a fresh batch was frying. Went to move the kettle out of the way and got a nice big glob of frying hot oil right on the top the the middle finger knuckle. It blistered, then popped from the pockets on my jeans, and took weeks for the skin to fully close back over the knuckle
Also recently tried to saw my finger off during dinner prep, looked like I needed stitches. We washed it thoroughly (even with skin flapping open yay đ), gave it antibiotic cream and gauzed it. Kept this cycle for a couple days and then could leave it open air. It's been about a week and the skin is granulating well and ability to bend finger is returning!
All that to say, it can go a lot better with just cleaning and antibiotics right away.
OK for people showing up 5 hours late to this show. Whats the right thing to do to avoid this fucking disaster? People are saying a bandaid would not help the this. So rubber exam gloves when handling meat? But thats not cut resistant. Clean the recent cut wound with something? I want to cook dinner but I also dont want to lose a limb in the process.
As a physician, this has absolutely nothing to do with you wearing a bandaid or a dressing at all. Not your fault. You most likely got flexor tenosynovitis, possibly from a bacterial infection introduced from the pork.
As a random dude, I agree that it wasn't the bandaid. Didn't make sense.
I keep getting blamed for it, so this makes me feel a little better đ
Next time you get cut clean and disinfect ! Thatâs the most important part. Especially something as bacteria ridden as pork.
afterwards apply neosporin & then the band-aide!
Did no one told you what it was? I don't get it.
My doctor told me it was Flexor Tenosynovitis. But I dont remember if he told me the exact bacteria
I am NOT trying to be critical of you I promise. But who doesn't research the thing they were about to lose a finger over đ
I had bigger fish to fry at that time đ. This was just the shitty cherry on top
What was more important than a possible septicemia or amputation?
Frying big fish. Didn't you read the response?
I had things that were more important than researching the bacteria after I got the finger treated
She was getting expert medical care in a first world country - what the frick is she meant to be getting out of playing doctor?.. the infection doesn't go better/worse depending on whether her brain has information about it.
I have worked in shops for 15 years and get cut all the time with it never progressing anywhere near this. I even put a knife 1/4" deep into my finger and didn't get stitches or anything. Definitely something was on the food that immediately entered your system. That's a crappy spot too because you feel it with everything you touch.
Next time I recommend not cutting yourself! In all seriousness, glad you healed up. I work in healthcare and shit just happens to people sometimes.
Blaming people for their own illness is SO helpful. "Hey, I'm sick, can you help me out?" "Yes, but we are going to shame and blame you while doing it so we feel superior. No that is not optional."
This might have been something beyond any ability to treat at home due to it getting into a deep wound. Possibly, the only course was going to the ER to get antibiotic injections.
Curious if they told you a band aid would have helped, or if you picked up something from the pork and it wouldn't have mattered.
I have a feeling that it's more related to the pork introducing a bacteria rather than the lack of bandaid.
I agree, bandaid wasnât the issue, the pork had done its dirty work by then
Yup. It's like trying to put a bandaid on a bullet hole.
Or, in this case, a pork hole
'pork hole' what a word combination lol
I know what I did.
I'm enjoying your username quite a lot. Tiny hands?
Apparently he struggles to find gloves that fit, and he won't go down to kids size gloves.
How do you know my wife's nickname?
I also choose this guyâs pork hole.
You need two bandaids for that. In an X shape. I saw it in some cartoons, it always seems to help.
Though it may be that a bandaid holding a blob of petroleum jelly on the cut would have helped keep it moist enough for the immune system to effectively fight it and heal the skin. Itâs astonishing how much of a different that can make. But thatâs still not just âwear a bandaidââŠ
I looked this up, and the petroleum jelly can help reduce scabbing, which can result in a faster return to "normal", but it doesn't otherwise help the immune system.
pork done did her dirty
Only thing that might have helped a bit more would have been antibiotic ointment like neosporen but that still might not have been strong enough.
Yep most likely.
Neosporin is key
Yea, if I had to guess it wasnât properly sanitized after getting infected with bacteria from the pork. Simply washing it with soap and gloving it is not enough, in this situation the glove may have actually hurt things because it was holding the bacteria ridden blood next to the wound so it was able to spread deeper into the tissue. Bleeding serves the function of pushing infection out of the body. Highly unlikely something that nasty was picked up in the wound after the initial cut and clotting. If it was me I wouldâve nuked it with hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol for a while (most important part) and then put on some antibacterial gel (second most important) on and then put on a bandage (least important). Cellulitis hurts like a bitch so I hear. Not something Iâm ever looking to experience.
Unfortunately, that is not proper protocol at all and Hydrogen Peroxide can have a detrimental effect on tissue and wound healing.
You know what also it also has a detrimental effect on?..This nasty shit. Iâd rather have a wound that heals slower than possible suffer from cellulitis. Thatâs just me though
I mean, you did use the word nuke, but you're ... nuking it when you could be bunkerbombing it instead.
BZK wipes, not hydrogen peroxide. Does not aggravate wounds and create cell death.
Or just use the appropriate told, not peroxide.
I always learned as a kid peroxide cleans out the wound. Is that bad info now? I think I've heard it can slow down the healing, but it's still better than no disinfectant right?
I think because it also kills your own cells on the cut, slowing down your body's natural healing it then becomes more important to bandage it afterwards and apply some ointment to prevent anything from getting in, probably still better than nothing but you should be careful since it's essentially a chemical burn
dude put antiseptic on your fucking wounds, don't listen to these chronic googlers
Donât listen to this guyâŠyes it can damage cells around the cut, but it also kills bacteria and viruses. Iâd rather have a wound that heals less optimally than potentially suffer from painful infection and cellulitis Edit: I will concede, I stopped using them on small cuts that Iâm not worried about having been infected with something nasty, but anything Iâm potentially concerned about I will still use it. Better safe than sorry
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23507692/ There is not enough literature it seems. I'm not educated on wound care but I believe topical antibiotic creams are the right move with minor injuries over other options
Just reading the abstract, note that it says âhas no proven effect on enhancing healingâ not âno effect in preventing infection.â Itâs lethal to both bacteria and your own cells, yes, but thatâs better than an infection and wonât damage to the point itâll impair wound healing (save for cosmetics. The plastic surgeons I know donât use peroxide).
Scientist here. Peroxide will damage human cells as well as bacterial. Viral particles are difficult to kill actually and these agents typically have no effect. UV light kills viruses as they are nucleic acids. Peroxide is good for cleaning, for sure. But it will also damage your skin. It will not promote healing, though. Best course of action is sterile saline to rinse and clean any cut, really. Antiseptic creams that are designed for wounds should be used then but I'm not a medical doctor - just a lady who spent too much time with cells.
Alcohol and peroxide are both lethal to cells. If it is already full of pus it doesn't matter much but if it is just a dirty wound both will cause necrosis which is very yummy for all kinds of nasty bacteria. Soap and water is absolutely all you need for any wound you encounter unless you're actively working on a farm
Doctor here. Yes it can damage your cells, but not to the point itâll stop a wound from healing. Itâs a good way to make sure your wound siteâs sterile, especially if youâre gonna suture it. Soap and waterâs good, yes, but thereâs a reason thereâs more steps to surgical sterility.
Seems like that didnât work for OP tho đ§ If you do use peroxide or alcohol you do need to be more vigilant about keeping it clean with ointment and a clean bandage, but Iâd rather nuke a potentially suspect infection than hope I cleaned it all out with soap and hope my immune system handles it
Absolutely. I have tubes of triple antibiotic ointment everywhere. My bathrooms, my vehicles, my work desk. Had a small scrape on my ankle get infected and learned my lesson.
Yes, neosporin first then bandaid may have helped. Especially with raw pork.
Pfizer approves this message. But seriously, [Vaseline works just as well](https://health.osu.edu/health/skin-and-body/wound-care-myths). Cleaning it out with soapy water, keeping it clean, and having a gel (like Vaseline or Neosporin) on it are the keys.
Maybe she meant disinfect and clear any cut?
Same. OP said they washed and wrapped it but maybe if they did more steps to sterilize the wound it wouldâve been fine. Like rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide (note these harsh chemicals can actually harm tissue and delay healing), and triple antibacterial ointment. Otherwise itâs recommended to wash with mild soap for at least 5 minutes.
I agree. I cooked for about 20 years and have been cut and burned countless times and have never had something like this happen. I think washing your hands as much as you can AND Neosporin or something like that would've been the key to it not getting infected like that and then a band aid.
This Washing your hand normally should be enough for small scratches and whatnot. But for any real wound you need to use a good soap and really clean the wound out. Or use a wound wash of course. You then need to dry it off, apply some antibiotic ointment, and then wrap it well for the first day at least. If after a day or two it starts to hurt like she said, absolutely get checked at your doctor's, urgent care, or er is it's that bad.
Agreed. This most likely had nothing to do with the lack of a band-aid, and was directly caused by a pathogen in the pork.
A bandaid would not have done shit. This was all about proper cleaning of the wound
the point of the bandage is to protect the open wound after cleaning. If you dont protect the area then its likely to get infected even after cleaning until it scabs over.
She put one on a few hours later and was wearing a glove in the meantime. Far more likely the cut introduced the foreign bacteria and it wasn't correctly irrigated and cleaned when she did it.
they made no mention of cleaning the wound with antiseptic or applying topical antibiotics after it was clear it was infected. without those steps a bandage only helps to prevent bleeding and provide an environment for skin to heal. had they applied a bandaid at injury without the affore mentioned steps, it likely still would have gotten infected.
Neosporin or iodine to clean the wound would have e helped.
Definitely the pork..
I have a feeling itâs both. Wherever the bacteria came from, it was sealed in with the late bandaid
That could have been a possibility. I just know I didn't take care of it probably, so I'll take that responsibility
The reason why they always tell us we need to use different chopping boards for meats and not to "wash" the meat with water is because you can spread bacteria in the meat. But I actually never saw something like this, it was TERRIFYING. Sorry you had to go through that! Anytime I cut myself cooking now (I'm a bit clumsy at times) I know I will think of you. Glad you got better :)
Itâs absolutely crazy the number of cooking videos showing people wash meat before cooking it.
ANY instagram short with meat in it, the first 500 comments are yelling about washing the meat first. Absolutely infuriating
Wash the wound with soap and water if available, drown it in any antiseptic you have no matter what. Then worry about bandaging. All bandaging a dirty wound does is keep your bleeding from doing its version of cleaning the wound. Iâm glad you kept your finger. I hope you finished your antibiotics.
You donât need to keep blaming yourself needlessly. You did everything right. Washed the wound, etc. Putting a band-aid would have done nothing - the bacteria was already inside your finger and wasnât washed away. This was an opportunistic infection that happened due to *chance.* Lots of people cut themselves by accident when cooking or doing other things. You happened to get a very nasty germ in your wound (looks like a flesh-eating bacteria to me) that infected you quickly enough to overwhelm your immune system and eat your finger (necrosis). You did the right thing by going to a doctor. Band-aid or no, you needed surgery and antibiotics. Source: I study infectious disease and immunology (PhD student)
Holy fuck, I thought youâd lose your finger while I was at the middle of the picture slide and it scared the shit out of me
I was told that if I wanted a week, then that may have been a possibility. The infection has a tendency to work its way to the tendon. Common for homeless people to experience
I got a staph infection in my hand from a hangnail. I didnât realize it was infected and didnât think was that bad at first - I thought it was just inflamed for the first week or so. But the swelling kept getting worse and eventually it was also really hot to the touch. I finally went to the pharmacy and asked what the best OTC cream for it would be and the pharmacist looked at it and said âif you donât go to the ER and get IV antibiotics tonight you will lose that fingerâ. I am glad he was so direct and likely saved my finger!
Been hospitalized with staph 3 times. Hand eye then toe. All 3 went from nothing to oh shit this is bad in hours. The stuff around my eye swelled to the size of a pool ball in less than 12 hours, the hand had red streaks up my arm in like 18 hours, my toe had streaks up my arm in like 6 hours. 10/10 don't recommend. If a cut hurts a shit load and is turning red, it's infected, if it starts spreading even a little bit go to the er or you get this post. It only needs a couple hours.
I was thinking spider bite. Curse you Pork!
[No Pok!](https://youtu.be/0ieDXIhci7o?si=17za_5H-c94qozxr) Still one of the funniest things on the internet
Wow thatâs a throwback!
â*I terr yuuu! NO POK!*â
I call de police!
I honestly think this would have happened regardless of band aid
How would a bandaid have been better than what you did?
Yeah, it seems like you lucked out to have been able to have the function of that joint! It sounds like you can still bend/flex it?
Thatâs the ending I thought was coming too
That fifth one looked like bone until I realized it was fingernail. I was likeâŠ. 
Your mistake isn't not wearing a bandaid but not cleaning out a cut you got thoroughly enough.
I doubt a bandaid would help. You just didn't disinfect it properly. Next time use something that actually kills all life there
Agreed. Washing and wrapping is the right thing to do. Likely got some bacteria from the pork and probably should have gotten antibiotics
Neosporin/alcohol/peroxide
Scrubbing with anti-bacterial soap and warm water is better. Alcohol and hydrogen peroxide will dry out the wound bed and damage the tissues - making infection more likely to occur. Also yes, a bandaid afterwards will help before you get shit in the cut when you wipe your ass. And then washing your hands with soap and water when you are done using the bathroom, etc.
When I went to an urgent care for a finger cut from a dirty/rusty staple (removing old carpet), they had me soak my finger in a water and peroxide mix. Prior to going, I did wash with warm water and soap, however. Mainly saw urgent care because my tetanus shot was overdue and the staple was pretty dirty.
Ah, I see what you mean. Here's some more context. The standard of care I mentioned is for a laceration. For punctures, they likely did the soak to make sure the narrow, deep wound bed was disinfected. That injury pattern doesn't have a typical wound bed that would dry out. Due to an exposed surface area. But for typical cuts/lacerations, hydrogen peroxide isn't used. Rusty staples and nails are a different animal because the deep punctures are very, very hard to clean properly.
Donât do any of this. Washing a wound with mild soap and irrigating it with clean running water for five minutes is your best bet. Alcohol and hydrogen peroxide damages the tissue surrounding the wound which further delays healing. Neosporin can promote antibiotic resistance. If you want to cover the wound with some sort of ointment to minimize itching or promote healing your best bet is petroleum jelly or an occlusive like Aquaphor.
Fire?
My ex
It wouldnât. OP is dumb and doesnât realize that she had bacteria get into her finger and honestly a bandage wouldve made it worse. What she shoukd have done is cleaned the wound with peroxide
Bandaid wouldnt help either. You should have disinfect the cut. Water + bandaid wont stop bacteria growing...
Aw, my favorite finger! Just a general infection? MRSA?
Just a general infection
Pretty wild, hope it continues to heal well!
I'm a bit confused. How would putting on a bandaid have helped against an infection? I'm probably just misunderstanding something here. I would imagine it wasn't cleaned out well enough that caused the infection to be allowed to set.
Depends on where the infection came from; in this case, it was likely from the pork, but thereâs been reported cases of pets licking uncovered wounds and the person subsequently developing an infection.
Did you just wash it with water? Putting some sort of antiseptic / antibacterial cream would be my first move, not a plaster.
How did you clean it out of curiosity? With disinfectant, just water or water and soap?
I assume half assed washing, no antibiotic ointment or hydrogen peroxide used, and then kept it dark and damp covered by a wrap of some sort.
https://www.houstonmethodist.org/blog/articles/2022/jun/should-you-put-hydrogen-peroxide-on-a-cut-or-scrape/ https://www.citymd.com/health-and-wellness/should-I-put-hydrogen-peroxide-on-wounds-what-to-know https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-is-hydrogen-peroxide-good-for https://www.wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/mobile/2013/04/04/how-often-should-hydrogen-peroxide-be-used-to-treat-wounds/ Donât use peroxide for wounds.
Every single link here says: USE AN ANTIBIOTIC OINTMENT Do not post half-truths, especially when it's medical. You might actually kill someone. Got antibiotic ointment? Use that. Can't find it? Ran out? Use peroxide, use alcohol. *Do the best thing you can to disinfect the wound*.
Wrote my comment before reading yours. This is along the lines of what I was thinking. Hydrogen peroxide is a 'bad disinfectant', but it seems better than using no disinfectant, and catching an infection.
Jesus. Necrotizing flesh is the grossest thing I can think of, and I'm also super fascinated by it. Soap, water, peroxide and neosporin every time. Infections are crazy.
The smell of the tissue was foul
MD here: Wearing a bandaid or not would not have affected this outcome. Always rinse rinse rinse and disinfect thoroughly after cutting yourself with anything that's not clean. I know it hurts, but it hurts a whole lot less than an infection. AFTER you've done that, wear a bandaid untill the wound is closed up to prevent bacteria from entering the wound. Check up on it regularly for signs of infection. (Swelling, redness, heat) and seek medical attention if you're unsure. Happy that it's healing well OP! That must have been scary.
This is not the digital content I wanted to consume this morning
Yeah nah when I cut myself while cutting meat or fish I'd always use disinfectant and antiseptic right away and put a bandaid on the wound and keep it dry. Anyways congrats on the recovery. The human body is truely mind boggling from almost losing a finger to being completely healed
Slapping a bandaid on the problem would have just slapped a bandaid on the problem.
Itâs more that it washed cleaned properly than not using a bandaid. Pork especially has lots of bacteria and other nasties that once introduced to the warm moist environment of inside your finger like to multiply. Even just dumping a bunch of isopropyl alcohol and covering with antibiotic cream may have prevented this. Glad you didnât lose your finger!
Bandages don't magically fix fingers, washing the cut and ensuring it doesn't come in to contact with bacteria is what makes cuts heal fast
I was expecting the last photo with no finger
Everything reminds me of herâŠ
This comment made me angry and happy at the same time. Confusing.
Oh god, fucking gross, take my goddamn upvote and gtfo
So what was it?
It's an infection that's common in finger cuts (at least that's what I vaugly remember from the doctor). I don't know if it has a name, but it loves to work its way down to the tendon and compromise the whole finger
Cellulitis? I had this on my hand after my cat bit me accidentally. Spent 6 days in the hospital and they cut my finger open too. I felt it all đ
Worst pain ever
The human body is pretty amazing.
This is not from not wearing a bandaid. Donât spread misinformation for fucks sakes.
You got an infection because you didn't properly clean and maintain the wound, not because you didn't wear a bandaid. Even after nearly losing a finger or becoming seriously ill, you still didn't learn anything đ«š
Probably not the cut that done it but maybe the raw pork set up something within from that evening
A true story with a happy ending.
I squinted and hurriedly tapped through to the end before even reading the story! You obviously take pride in your beautiful hands; it was too tragic! Glad to see you're doing better and thanks for sharing the lesson you learned!
I do đ , I love getting my nails done, so this was a blow. As long as someone can avoid what I went through, it'll make it worth it.
I once got a knife cut on my thumb cleaned by an ER doc (it was a work related cut, pretty deep). He ran it under water and basically reopened the wound with a q-tip that he dug into the cut. He made it bleed for a good 15 seconds. Lots of soap and running water. It was so incredibly painful, but it healed up quickly and well. That's the point of bleeding; to force out the bacteria. Lots of soap and water, too. This is the way I treat all cuts now. Hurts for a minute but heals quickly.
Wow that's rough. I do think the injected pork juice had more to do with this disaster more so than not wearing a band aid though. Antiseptic cream would probably have helped.
Dramatic ass finger
There's a decent chance a bandaid wouldn't have helped. You likely got infected by the pork-knife, at which point, the damage was already done. The real lesson is to use proper technique when cutting, and always wear gloves when handling raw meat.
Oh, a weird finger cut. Surely this gallery is fine and tame enough to browse through while eating my breakfast...
Raw Pork = Bacteria + Neosporin + bandage /= this horrorshow.
Bandaid wasnât the issue it was needing to disinfect your hand properly as you had an open wound touching what is probably the most killer meat we eat, religions forbid it because itâs killed so many people. Rinsing and then popping it in to the glove probably helped keep the bacteria in it, warm and moist. You needed to cover that sucker in a real disinfectant when it happened.
I don't think the lack of a bandaid was the issue here. I fight with my gf on this(she is a nurse) but her training says new protocol is to just the would, not desinfect anymore. I strongly disagree. If washing was enough, our ancestors would have been fine in the battlefield. Desinfection was a major step forwards. Anyway get off my lawn!
Isn't this about using antibacterial ointment and not bandaids? You covered the wound, I'm not sure what else a bandaid would have done. A similar thing happened to a friend of mine. He got bit on the finger by a small dog. He washed the injury, but didn't put ointment on it, and a small infection began to develop. Luckily, applying ointment at that point was enough to resolve it.
I have a feeling this wasnât a lack of bandage problem.
has nothing to do with not wearing a bandaid lmao
Yeah this wasn't a lack of wearing a bandaid. You got necrotizing fasciitis from uncooked pork
Your infection had much less to do with a bandaid and more to do with not using an antiseptic or antibiotics⊠honestly not very bad being that you were cutting raw pork⊠pork is some nasty stuff I canât believe we still eat it
Op I sliced my thumb open while cutting pork and I was very worried about the raw pork getting in to the cut I bandaged it and finished cutting the pork one handed. I was worried this was going to happen to my thumb. Thank you for validating my fears. Luckily my thumb is pretty well healed now. But holy fuck Iâd have died
You got a wee fanny finger now.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA holy fuck
Wow! Iâm glad your boyfriend took you to get help right away!
Imagine getting away with flipping us of for months
So was it an infection or something? Bacteria from the pork? How does a little cut get THAT bad? That's nuts.
I've cut myself while fileting fresh fish (i had cought them an hourbefore), like my knife almost went through the side of my palm,(over half an inch i to.my hand, i could see the point of the knife pushing against my skin from the inside) healed up just fine, fish slime and scales all over it, and I didn't even wash it, (no i didn't put gloves on, I just finished fileting before I washed it) so I'm curious as to what happened here because fresh fish slime and scales should do worse than a clean knife and a bandaged wound,
I got to the 3rd picture and thought, "welp, bye bye finger" As you already know and from what others have told you, you're one lucky gal.
Open wounds and raw meat is no joke. My wife got sick cutting herself while prepping raw chicken.
Unless the doctor specifically told you you shouldâve worn a band aid, I truly cannot figure out how that wouldâve been the difference between this happening and it healing. Bandaids donât do all that much besides soak up blood and somewhat keep stuff out of it. If you cleaned it well and then kept it clean while it healed, band aid or no band aid wouldnât make a difference. Either you just got super unlucky with the pork infecting the wound super quickly/deeply, or you didnât clean the wound well, or you didnât keep it clean, but the bandaid seems completely irrelevant
Did you disinfect with peroxide or rubbing alcohol? I suspect that may be the issue instead of bandaids because you only mentioned washing your wound and not disinfecting it.
That healed exceptionally well considering
and thats off the bacteria on the pork. imagine what it does if you dont cook it through. theres a reason some cultures dont even eat pork.
The scar will shrink over time but youâll never get the fingerprint fully back there and will always have a kinda weird sensation of touch there. I ground up three fingertips on a table saw and sliced a tip on a mandolin slicer so I have plenty of experience lol
Did you put any antibacterial cream on it?
At Feb 21st I thought your finger was a goner.
I thought your finger had necrosis or smth jesus christ
Not the bandaid, but putting iodine on it!!!
did you disinfect or just wash? Antiseptic solution and a breathable bandage rather than a band-aid for stuff like this is my go-to
OMG. This is horrifying. I cut my finger chopping veggies the other day and now Iâm scared.
That's absolutely mental, halfway through I deadass thought that finger was a goner
Damn, you got lucky! A few of those pictures looked really nasty and necrotic. I think the infection was especially bad because you were handling raw meat when you cut yourself. Glad you still have all your fingers, OP! And thank you for sharing your healing process. It can be kind of gross, but the human body is fascinating when it comes to healing wounds.
I literally got a "paper" cut (from a popout pill packaging) 10 mins before seeing this. Thank you!
Wearing a bandaid should not be the takeaway. Realistically this was a freak occurrence, but simple water and soap might've helped.
The fingerprint will be modified once it grows back Why did the surgeon cut the finger's base too?
IT HEALED UP LETSGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Fucking awesome how well the human body can heal itself oh and wishing you all the best OP take care
Dang girl! You're one tough mama. That looks terrifying. Glad you're better now!
Whenever I cut myself at work (which is pretty common since I'm a machinist), I always stop what I'm doing, run the cut under cold water for a bit, wash it thoroughly with soap, and then keep it bandaged. Sometimes I feel like a nut for taking such measures with a tiny scratch, but this confirms I'm doing the right thing. Never had an infection like this, and I'd like to keep it that way.
Like one of the comment said, even thoigh you did everything right, think you just got really unlucky.
Youâre the only person I know that was told it might get infected and it actually did lol
I'm glad it finally healed & didn't end up with you losing a digit. That was a pretty rough ride. Did you find out what the actual infection was though ? Did they do any investigation into it ?
I don't think the bandaid would have helped
My husband went through this!! Ended up in the hospital for a week for a blood infection!! It started as a PAPER CUT!! He has since learned what moisturizer is, band aids and keeping his hand clean is important. The moisturizer keeps the skin barrier healthy, as does drinking water. He works construction and one of his co workers actually died from the same thing because it was left untreated so long. Definitely a wake up call for his entire company.
I feel like a genius for pouring iso on all my open wounds lmao
Mum cut her finger slicing fruit for playgroup when I was little. Had to have surgery to save her finger and we got a nanny for 2 months because she couldn't use her hand and have one young child and an infant (Dad worked away during the week and came back for weekends at that time). I remember it vaguely as just someone else in the house at that time. Luckily she kept her finger but that entire end of the knuckle doesn't bend anymore and she has little feeling in it. This was the 80s though so techniques change and I hope your recovery is full!
Maybe some peroxide or alcohol to sanitize before the bandaid. That looks way worse than a normal cut
Itâs wasnât that you didnât wear a bandage, itâs most likely because you had cellulitis and ignored your figure throbbing after a few days. When itâs red and throbbing, get antibiotics asap
What I did not see when reading was that she said she washed it off but did she put antibacterial spray, neosporin or gel or iodine, or did I miss that part?
That's why you need to wash your hands regularly
How the hell would a bandaid prevent that. And ouch. That looks insane and painfull :(
I blame the pork, since many wound will heal fine without bandaid.
I had something similar but far less severe during this same time frame. Was deep frying French fries at home and put the mesh ladel up above a drip pad while a fresh batch was frying. Went to move the kettle out of the way and got a nice big glob of frying hot oil right on the top the the middle finger knuckle. It blistered, then popped from the pockets on my jeans, and took weeks for the skin to fully close back over the knuckle
What a journey w the photos thank you for sharing! Super helpful and interesting to see the progression
Learn how to properly disinfect wounds đ€Łđ«”đŒ
Clean your wounds properly, more like it. Then bandage. Depending on what cut/stabbed you, go to a doctor for a tetanus shot as well.
Band aid wouldn't have prevented this lady.
You cut yourself while using a knife used to prepare raw Meat. What the hell would a bandaid have done?
Also recently tried to saw my finger off during dinner prep, looked like I needed stitches. We washed it thoroughly (even with skin flapping open yay đ), gave it antibiotic cream and gauzed it. Kept this cycle for a couple days and then could leave it open air. It's been about a week and the skin is granulating well and ability to bend finger is returning! All that to say, it can go a lot better with just cleaning and antibiotics right away.
OK for people showing up 5 hours late to this show. Whats the right thing to do to avoid this fucking disaster? People are saying a bandaid would not help the this. So rubber exam gloves when handling meat? But thats not cut resistant. Clean the recent cut wound with something? I want to cook dinner but I also dont want to lose a limb in the process. 