Should this be a bit more better by now? should i go back to Dr?

[nannyL]

On wednesday last week i tripped up in school playground and minorly grazed me knee..
a teeny tiny cut, nothing to write home about at all

it kept me awake on wed night (with pain) and again Thur night (it woke me about 8 times )...
by Friday lunch time the area was hot and throbbing and looked like it could be infected

i went to a pharmasist to get an opinion and was told it was definitely infected, it needed medical attention ASAP and it would not be wrong for me to go straight to A&E...

I was nannying and about to pick up charge from school so got an emergancy doctors appt for a couple of hours later and called my (dr) boss so that they could get home a bit early and i could go to appt...

upon seeing my leg (which I didnt think looked that bad) i was asked "could i still move my knee" (i could but it hurt like hell) and my boss said in his opinion it looked like the infection could be spreading to my knee joint

so i went to GP and was given AB's (flucloxacillin) which i have taken at 6 hour intervals on an empty stomach ever since..

by Friday night i really couldnt bend my knee and it was extreamly painful and i could barely walk... I also had the 'red ring' round the knee area which was spreading so fast you could almost watch it grow

it felt a bit better on Saturday, still painful but not as bad as fri night

On Sunday it was even better still, most of the 'heat' had gone and last night i actually ran up the stairs... all seemed to be getting better

but today it seems to be getting worse again... much more painful and seems to be getting hot again... it is NOT as bad (or even nearly as bad as friday though)

also i am only on day 4/7 of AB's.

I cant decide if i should go back to Drs tomorrow (and feel like a complete hypercondriac) or weather to wait at least until AB's run out on friday, in the hope it is actually better by then?... or just see what its like tomorrow and if any worse get another emergancy appt tomorrow evening?

Opinions welcome

[PacificDogwood]

No question, go back to Dr's. You will need added/change of antibiotic. You also need to have an infection inside your knee joint ruled out. You may need to have a swab taken.
If you are feeling unwell yourself (fluey, sick, hot and cold) then seek medical help tonight, you may develop septicaemia.
I do not mean to scare you, but take this seriously.
Hope things settle quickly.

[nannyL]

oh ok

im feeling fine in myself at the moment

this is my 3rd teeny tiny wound to get majorly infected in the past 3 years, and im not impressed lol. (the other too both had me "this-" close to being admitted to hospital for IV AB's and i really dont want that

also surely if i did have an infection inside my knee joint the ABs would get it wouldnt they?

Thank you for your advice ... unless it decides to feel much much better tomorrow morning i will call drs 1st thing.

[BiscuitStuffer]

Definitely go back. The joint may need draining. Don't mess about. You may have septic arthritis.

[nannyL]

my knee is definitely swollen again (where as the swelling went down) looks like its back to Drs for me again tomo...

[PacificDogwood]

Let us know what happened

[nannyL]

well...

it was very painful in the night... kept me awake between 4 / 6 am.

so i got an emergancy appt...

by which time the swelling had gone down, and it wasnt as hot as last night which i guess must be a good thing.

Dr said it seems ok enough, and my knee joint didnt seem infected, which was what she was concerned about (which was what my boss who is a GP was concerned about too and to continue with last few days of AB's.
i also had a diabetese test (negative) as a result of "reaccurrent skin infections.

BUT right now it is more painful and a bit hotter again...

i dont know; i really feel like its not quite right though even now it isnt as bad as last night.

am now on day 5/7 of AB's and it is still hot and still hurts a LOT...

i expect i will run it past my bosses the rest of this week, and im fully prepared that i might be going back to GP on fri for more of the same AB's unless miracles happen in the next 24 / 48 hours!

thanks for asking

[nannyL]

SORRY shoul have been right now lol

[PacificDogwood]

Glad you got it checked out again.
I suppose you'll just have to play it by ear, IYKWIM...
Hope it settles soon

[CarGirl]

what a nightmare. Have they done skin swabs to check that you haven't got some lurgy like strepA living on you that could make this kind of thing worse?

[nannyL]

yes, thank you

and im pleased i work for Drs ... i has some perks, for the rest of the week I will 'consult' them in the kitchen...

its still boiling hot (hotter than this morning)and hurting more and more again... considering i just tripped up nearly a week ago, im sure it shouldnt be this bad

[nannyL]

CarGirl.. no swabs or anything... just said its a regualar staphylococcus aureus infection.

My 3rd minor (almost non existant) wound to get severly infected in just over 3 years.

On Friday my GP boss expected the GP to give me AB's and said i might have tosee a nurse to get all the mank out and pour liquid iodine on it... actual GP just gave me AB's and left it at that!...
I nipped back to work after and GP boss was not overly concerned that they hadnt poured
liquid iodine into it though, just said that they might.

I had plans and really didnt want to have that done as its extremly painful, so when my GP didnt suggest it, i didnt ask...

TMI alert:
I had a plaster thing (one of those extra large wound dressings on it on Sat night /Sunday) and loads of manky yellow puss came out onto that.

[PacificDogwood]

Well, with pus it is a matter of better out than in !
If they knew it was a Staph aureus infection somebody must have sent something to the lab for culture, surely?
A+E are quite good at looking after this kind of thing if you are ever stuck but sounds like you've got the informal "having a look at it" all sorted out ...

[CarGirl]

I just wondered if you have living on your skin something like strepA or B or summat else that when you graze your skin is getting into your body which needs a different antibiotic to kill it off?

loads of manky puss doesn't sound great does it?

[nannyL]

i dont think they know that, as i have never had anything tested...

i think GP was just guessing but thats what he told me...

cargirl im wondering too... and have another normal length drs appt coming up where i intend to discuss it further...

the 1st infection they said i was just unlucky and these things happen occasionaly, the 2nd time they said it was possible i was very unlucky and lightening had struck twice, and also said they would be concerned if it happened a 3rd time...

well know it HAS happened a 3rd time, and tbh i am now getting worried about cutting myself.

incidently in the past 3 years i have had other extreamly small wounds that have healed normally without getting infected.

this antibiotic has killed whatever it is the previouse 2 times, so im hoping it will this time...
Im also not overly impressed to have to keep getting AB's. I am a definite believer in not using them unless essential, and as my boss has explained to me numerouse times, infections that GP's treat with AB's (real bacterial infections) in time most of our bodies would heal naturally anyway... im a great believer in eating healthily and letting our bodies do their jobs.

If i lived 100 years ago, i would be dead 3 times by now from these infections! (though i might not yet have died from this knee one!)