Should I go to A&E or am I being silly?

[Dumdeedahdumdeedo]

I went out on Friday and was attacked in the toilets by a random woman. There was no argument, no build up, she literally just launched herself at me and attacked me

The police came and she was arrested but during the attack she bit me on my knee

She broke the skin on my knee and I have a giant bruise there too. I've woken up today and I'm struggling to bend my knee, it really hurts, all down the back of my knee hurts when I try to bend it.

It doesn't look infected, there's the cut and the bruise but it isn't hot to touch.

I don't k ow if I'm being dramatic or not, I'm starting to worry maybe there's an infection inside my knee that I cannot see.

Would i be dramatic to go to A&E over this or do you think it just hurts to bend because she bit my actual knee cap so there's bound to be some pain?

I'm a single mum I have a 5 year old and 7 year old I don't really want to drag them to A&E but at the same time I'm starting to worry about my knee

I don't know what to do

You are hilarious. I would recommend you think before you post though...

How frightful! I am sorry this happened to you .She sounds deranged .Please get it seen to .There will be bacteria and you probably need Antibiotics .Hope you feel well soon .

You need a GP not A&E. A&E is for anything life threatening or needing immediate and significant repair.

Have a read of rhis @toptail222 and stop giving out dangerous advice - hopefully you aren't in a public facing role at the A&E you apparently work in.

This does need immediate care. Please read the posts from medical professionals on the thread who have confirmed this.

Your advise is incorrect and goes against what the NHS's own website recommends. It also goes against the advise given to the OP from the 111 nhs advice line.

Hopefully you are not medical staff as you appear to not know the appropriate advice for such an incident.

It does need immediate treatment, it's a human bite that's broken the skin.

A human bite where the skin is broken DOES need urgent treatment.

Toptail22 has been suspended from their work, according to a recent thread of theirs.
Wonder why? Giving out shitty advice, perhaps?

OP I was bitten in the knee by a dog whilst out jogging. I wen to A&E but felt silly. A paramedic was outside so I asked him before going in and he said absolutely go in. I did and after a while was given a tetanus jab.

Gosh. You can't be in my part of the UK then. Our Gps shut up in the first lockdown and have not been seen since. The Advanced Nurse Practitioners have been working face to face throughout, but when I took my Ds1 for his asthma review 2 weeks ago and asked our ANP if the GPs were coming back any time soon she muttered angrily that it an in-joke within the practice that it was easier for a patient to get into prison than it was to see a GP. (And yes it was probably unprofessional for her to say so, and no I do not blame her because I happen to know that she was meant to retire at then end of 2020 and did not due to volume of work).

A human bite can transmit as many bacteria as any domestic pet or wild animal. You should go to get checked out as even if it's not infected she could have gnawed on one of the little tendons

OMG how awful OP, sounds horrendously traumatic. I wonder if she was high on drugs or something. I hope you feel a lot better soon. If you start to feel anxiety about it later on down the line please get referral for counselling. It's really important after a traumatic event to get help yo process it as soon as possible so it doesn't leave you with any lasting mental trauma x

What a horrible experience. Definitely get some medical treatment, either from you GP or minor injuries unit if you can before A&E, but by all means go there if necessary.

Brieandcamembert
You need a GP not A&E. A&E is for anything life threatening or needing immediate and significant repair

God another Internet "expert". I actually despair at stupid posts like this, so ignorant and so scary anyone would actually listen to this rubbish.

@Brieandcamembert do you want to call 111 and tell them their advice is wrong then? It was them who told op to go to A&E.
Glad you're going to get checked out op. What a shocker of a way to end your night out!

It's perfectly appropriate 🙄

Bites from dogs, cats and humans are highly likely to get infected and they can turn very nasty, very quickly. All such bites should be cleaned out immediately and dressed as appropriate, with the patient being given antibiotics (plus a tetanus where necessary).

Most areas have no minor injuries and you wouldn't be able to get a GP appointment for that either - they'd send you straight to the hospital to be checked.

I'm canine/animal first-aid trained and our course told us to send ALL bites which break the skin to hospital to be treated ASAP.

Tetanus and hepatitis? Really?? Think you should read up on transmission routes and risks 🤨

So it's a human bite that's definitely showing signs of infection? Yes you go to bloody A&E
Any gp practioner would tell them the exact same thing purely because that is what the NICE guidelines for treatment of human bites breaking the skin are. She needs a full blood workup, antibiotics and a wound flush. Ffs. Absolute morons some people are.

Transmission route for hep B is ANY bodily fluid...

Glad you’re going to A&E. Human bites need seeing especially across a joint.
It don’t take your kids there! You’ll be there hours and if you need treatment/admitting what are you going to do? Try a friend/neighbour or anyone. Even another school mum if they phoned me and said I’m stuck and was attacked and need A&E I would watch her kids if I had never before, please ask someone.

You know GPS can’t do urgent bloods, washout a wound in theatre and give IV antibiotics if needed?

Hope you’re ok OP.
This thread is the perfect example of why asking the advice of strangers on the internet on health matters isn’t a good idea.

A&E is the perfect place for this. They can assess your wound, flush it out, give you antibiotics and arrange follow up if needed. The fact that you have pain behind your knee and reduced movement would worry me.

@User3568975431146 I have read up and am actually trained in this area, so I forgive you for naivety.

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng184/chapter/Recommendations#assessment

Human bites which puncture the skin, as OP has said happened, as per photo, unless the police and OP have identified the exact risks of the person who carried out the bite (which lets face it, they won't, so we have to err on the side of caution and go worse case, which is the person doing the biting has hepatitis etc) then she should deffo seek immediate medical
Treatment as 72 hours on a bank holiday weekend isn't a stroll into a Gp surgery.