I stepped on a long, dirty and rusty nail

[arildno]

arildno, thanks for those symptoms, I'll watch for them.

My grandma has just passed me a rivanol solution and ichtiol ointment, maybe this will help. It says that the former works as disinfectant and the last one, as antiphlebitis, cures infected wounds and so on.

This is insufficient.
You need a DEEP cleansing of that wound at the very least (as Astronuc says), and only qualified medical personell can do that.
Surface cleansing as we ordinary mortals can do is not enough.

What WILL happen, even if you do not get blood poisoning, is necrosis around the wound. That dead flesh will need to be scraped out if it is of some quantity.
You might be VERY lucky that it won't be much, but you shouldn't gamble on it.

 

[Kurdt]

It's called taxes here in Norway.

Well ditto here except they don't cover you for lovely things like loss of earnings and all these lovely insurance terms that are coming up. Its shocking realising how little you know you just take it for granted that you'll get treatment but never think of anything else.

 

[Rach3]

arildno, thanks for those symptoms, I'll watch for them.

My grandma has just passed me a rivanol solution and ichtiol ointment, maybe this will help. It says that the former works as disinfectant and the last one, as antiphlebitis, cures infected wounds and so on.

As two people have pointed out, TOPICAL antibiotics are for minor scratches, not deep PUNCTURE wounds like you have. Read the labels! You're at risk of very serious infections, see a real doctor!

 

[Cyrus]

Yeah, don't be a bonehead, bonehead. Drive to the hospital or I'll come down there and kick you in the arse and drive you myself.

 

[Bystander]

You are looking at the possibilities of tetanus, cellulitis, gangrene, who knows how many other infections, and most of them are treated by AMPUTATION
if given the time to become serious. Waiting over the weekend is more than enough time to become fatal rather than just an amputation.

Explain to your parents that you're going to get a lawyer and sue them for negligence if they don't get you to the emergency room on the double-damn-quick.

 

[arildno]

He can die well before the weekend, Bystander, if he develops a serious case of (untreated) blood poisoning (which is not a too rare complication in such cases).

 

[Evo]

what really hurts me are two smallest toes, and I feel like I broke them, and after all I've broken my bones several times and I know the pain, and it feels like that. I don't know what to do.

Even if your parents don't have insurance, the emergency room will not turn you away. If your parents don't have insurance, the hospital will get them forms to appliy for aid and charity. The point is, you will be treated.

This sounds very serious.

Tell your parents that if they won't take you to the hospital ER, you will call 911 and tell them what's happened and that your parents refuse to get you medical help and let the authorities decide. Maybe your parents will suddenly decide a one hour drive to the ER is better than watching tv.

 

[Rach3]

Look on the bright side! You can go to the hospital, get a tetanus booster, possibly antibiotics (a couple of shots), and more likely than not you'll just go back home! Best part of all, no dying! Now isn't that a sensible option?

As you can see, there's only one choice here.

 

[Astronuc]

Astro, what did they do to you?

Well, I usually got a tetanus booster, and made sure the wound was clean. I then just monitored the wound area, and the foot or arm which got punctured. Monitor your leg and foot for swelling, redness and tenderness - which can happen if you have an infection. If pain persists, then definitely see a doctor.

Dirty nails might have bacteria one them, but there are bacteria living on the skin, and those do not belong in deep tissue.

If you have a family doctor, I would recommend contacting the doctor's office directly and at least informing him/her that you've received a puncture wound.

Heartless, when did you last have a tetanus shot? If more than 5 years, you very likely need one now!

 

[arildno]

heartless:
At the very least:
Go into Astronuc's second link.
Is your foot tender, swollen, red, and the other symptoms of infections?

Also remember that very likely, you know have extremely dirty rust particles lodged within your foot. Only a doctor can get these out.

 

[DaveC426913]

Heartless, we are not kidding around here. By the time you decide you need to go to the hospital because your symptoms worsen, you may already be in a much worse situation.

And Wiki "lockjaw" while you're at it.

This is not like sticking yourself with a tack. This is a DEEP wound. It has completely bypassed your dermis and gone right to your flesh where the infection can DIRECTLY enter your larger blood vesselsand effortlessly be transported around your body. The pain and swelling is your body's desperate uphill battle to stop the infection from spreading to your heart and central organs, where it may KILL you.

You need to go to the hospital. Not after a few days, you need to go now.

I can't believe your parents won't take you. Go in a cab if you must.

 

[Rach3]

heartless:
At the very least:
Go into Astronuc's second link.

I disagree. This guy should not be sitting around trying to self-diagnose his own symptoms, while an infection might be rapidly progressing. Let's not make him complacent - he should be in an ER, and anything else is foolhardy.

 

[Bystander]

You are also very probably looking at 3 days to a week recovery time for every hour you delay in getting this treated --- takes that kind of time for your body to handle the dead meat from within the wound and rebuild.

I spent an hour a year ago getting someone convinced to get a nicked finger to the emergency room. It was three hours "old." It was a "coin toss" situation between amputation and trying antibiotics at that time (cellulitis).

Move it!

 

[arildno]

I disagree. This guy should not be sitting around trying to self-diagnose his own symptoms, while an infection might be rapidly progressing. Let's not make him complacent - he should be in an ER, and anything else is foolhardy.

Well, since he evidently won't come to his senses and get the fastest he can to a hospital, I felt it imperative that he did something constructive, at the very least.

 

[Evo]

Heartless, a wound like this is not just going to get better. You will not be able to work Monday, if you're still alive and still have a foot.

Do you have any neighbors that would take you?

 

[arildno]

Anyone else than me who is apalled that an employer let's a 16 year old CONTINUE WORKING for him after he has gotten a deep puncture wound?

Although we cannot assume that all families understand the gravity of such a wound, EVERY EMPLOYER SHOULD KNOW IT!
He should have driven heartless to the doctor immediately, in his own car if need be.

 

[arildno]

Your pain has grown expontentially. That means your foot IS infected. 100% certain.

 

[Evo]

Anyone else than me who is apalled that an employer let's a 16 year old CONTINUE WORKING for him after he has gotten a deep puncture wound?

Although we cannot assume that all families understand the gravity of such a wound, EVERY EMPLOYER SHOULD KNOW IT!
He should have driven heartless to the doctor immediately, in his own car if need be.

I was just thinking that. Heartless, if you tell the doctors it was a work related injury, they will file workman's compensation forms to your employer, your family will not have to pay.

 

[wolram]

Anyone else than me who is apalled that an employer let's a 16 year old CONTINUE WORKING for him after he has gotten a deep puncture wound?

Although we cannot assume that all families understand the gravity of such a wound, EVERY EMPLOYER SHOULD KNOW IT!
He should have driven heartless to the doctor immediately, in his own car if need be.

Over here the employer is liable, at the factory where i work trained first aiders first look at an injury, if they think it neccesary the injured person is taken to hospital, for an injury such as this there would be no question,
it would be hospital ASAP.

 

[Evo]

Heartless, call the hospital ER and describe your injury, have them talk to your parents.

 

[Moonbear]

OMG! I can't believe with everyone telling you the very same thing, you're still not at a doctor's, and I really can't believe your parents are actually refusing to take you! This is not something that should wait a day! Tetanus is a VERY serious, very life threatening, and very likely consequence of a deep puncture wound...you need a tetanus shot ASAP, because by the time symptoms show up, your life is already in danger. There are numerous other infections that can develop in such a wound too, and none of them are anything to just dismiss. If a puncture wound isn't cleaned out well and appropriate antibiotics applied, the outside can start healing and trap bacteria inside, which creates a nasty abcess. That's the sort of infection that can eat your foot away from the inside out, and is very painful. You need to get to an ER or emergency clinic (now that any doctor's office would be closed, those are your only options). DO NOT wait until morning.

If your parents are being stupid about this (sorry, but there's no other way to put that...same with your employer...anyone who would refuse to take a person with a puncture wound, especially when you know the implement you were punctured with was dirty, for medical treatment is acting very stupidly), call a taxi. Yes, it's going to be a late night going to the ER on a Friday night, but you've already waited too long.

 

[arildno]

I fully concur with Evo!
Now, you must call proper medical personell in your neighbourhood and tell them your situation.

You WILL be listened to, don't worry about that!
They will most likely want to speak with your parents afterwards,

IMPORTANT:
Take this phone call NOW, do NOT ask your parents' permission for that.
It is YOUR life that is in danger here.

 

[Moonbear]

Heartless, when did you last have a tetanus shot? If more than 5 years, you very likely need one now!

With a puncture wound, your tetanus shot needs to be within 1 to 2 years to not require a booster at the time of injury (and depending on the conditions, a doctor might decide you still need one if it was more recent, such as when it's a big, rusty, dirty nail that's likely to be harboring the tetanus bacteria, a very deep puncture wound, and a place that's hard to keep clean...like the bottom of a foot).

 

[Moonbear]

Over here the employer is liable, at the factory where i work trained first aiders first look at an injury, if they think it neccesary the injured person is taken to hospital, for an injury such as this there would be no question,
it would be hospital ASAP.

It's the same here. His employer was negligent not to send him for medical treatment immediately, and since the injury happened on the job, the employer will be required to pay for the medical treatment if it's not otherwise covered by worker's compensation insurance.

 

[arildno]

He has logged off now. I really hope we have gotten the message through, finally.

 

[Cyrus]

He's probably playing jump rope

 

[Pengwuino]

God he was being such a yomamma!

Then again i remember i had a strange feeling in my leg a few months ago and evo said i would be dead by tuesday. Jerks.

haha just kidding. I thought getting your butt to the doctor after even a flesh wound with a rusty nail was common sense...

 

[Moonbear]

I thought getting your butt to the doctor after even a flesh wound with a rusty nail was common sense...

It's pretty much the textbook example of how to get tetanus. I really do hope he's offline because he's going to get treatment. I'm worried about him to not have anyone he can turn to when he needs medical treatment and his parents refuse.

 

[arildno]

I hope 16 means
a) He still can get really scared
and
b) Is rebellious enough to take a phone call in spite of what his parents have told him.

 

[wolram]

God he was being such a yomamma!

Then again i remember i had a strange feeling in my leg a few months ago and evo said i would be dead by tuesday. Jerks.

haha just kidding. I thought getting your butt to the doctor after even a flesh wound with a rusty nail was common sense...

You must be a ghost, Evo is never wrong