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Minrott wrote:Were you gloved when you punctured your finger? Were your hands sterile? There's a number of possibilities. You could have pushed some contaminate that was on your skin inside the wound when the needle went through. You could have contaminated the would after and now it's become infected. How "hard" is it? How painful is it? Is there any inflamation? Is the puncture area the only thing that's painful or is the entire area sensitive? How deep was the puncture?

I wouldn't be terribly worried. I get multiple cuts and punctures on my hands and fingers in my line of work, nearly all of them are dirty or contaminated with any number of things, and nearly all get mild infections. None of them have been anything that a little hydrogen peroxide and neosporin didn't fix.

xKALECx wrote:Well even though the instrument was unused at the time it could still be infected. Most small abcesses do not come from contaminated instuments, spider bites, etc... They come from touching them with your fingers later. The number one cause of abcesses/infections in the skin is MRSA. Don't let that scare you. MRSA was once seen as a horrific bug, but now we know how to treat it. Every person in fact carries MRSA in their nostrils and under their fingernails. So when folks start squeezing a puncture/pimple etc.. they are in fact putting the bug into the area. Not pushing it out.

My advice is to see somebody for it if it is red swollen and painful. Get on some Bactrim. It's the only proven antibiotic against common MRSA. Don't let a doctor tell you otherwise. If it's just sore and not swollen then watch it for a couple of days and clean it with Dial soap. Peroxide just breaks things down to make them easier to wash off. It doesnt disinfect a thing.

Harrison wrote:Puncture wounds shouldn't be treated like normal lacerations. I'd just get it looked at if it worsens in the next 2-3 days.

Watch it closely but don't worry yourself sick over nothing.

- btw does he have a fever (if so then the infection has gone systemic which is more serious) - either way he needs URGENT MEDICAL ATTENTION as his finger may still infected (supported by the pain and swelling, "hardness" present) as even though it's a sterile piece of equip that puntured the finger, bacteria may still colonise the open wound no matter how small it seems to the eye, esp if ur friend didnt dress it straight away and just put on a new glove. if there was no possibility of blood bourne infection occuring then a blood test doesnt need to be done, and since it was a sterile piece of equip then a tetanus shot is not needed. (but while on this topic, remind ur friend to make sure his tetanus immunisations are up to date). Has ur friend also checked to see if nothing splintered into the wound?

Elevate the finger (above the heart) and Ice it to reduce swelling and inflammation and pain esp straight away after it happens or within the first 24 hrs will still help. Take some painkillers/analgesics eg. Nurofen Plus(R) - has an antiinflammatory and codeine for extra pain relief and add paracetamol on top if needed. Rest the finger too.

Regarding the ointment he has there's no harm in using it - but the infected finger may not respond to it if the bacteria strain is resistant (no way to tell until a culture test is done - but most doctors will prescribe their P-drugs and on an empirical basis). Mupirocin - Apply 3 times daily - entire treatemnt should be no more than 10 days

Clindamycin could also be tried (barring no contraindications exist eg. hypersensitivities/allergies to the medication, or certain medical conditions and certain medications ur friend may have) but is not commonly a first line medication for skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI)s unless a culture lab test confirms that the bacterial strain is susceptible to the antibiotics. Consult a doctor FIRST but im my opinion i see alot more oral antibiotics like flucloxacillin prescribed for SSTIs. Putting some betadine(R) on it may help also (antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial ) for 1 day only. (freq applications will impede wound healing).
Dosing schedule for Clindamycin 150mg -Dose May be taken with or without food. Adults: 150 mg every 6 hours initially. Take with a full glass of water. Start with the 150mg four times a day first as too high a dose may cause side effects and AAC (antibiotic associated collitis which can be life threatening)