Cellulitis

[doctorb]

Not MRSA.  Appearance of MRSA is much different in my experience.  Reactive pustules separate from one another.  We often never get an accurate bacteriological diagnosis with cellulitis as there is no concentration of fluid/pus to culture.

[thecfarm]

What did the Doc say??

[Jeff]

He said he expected it to look better than it did after the length of time I had been on the antibiotics. He prescribed a steroid and an additional antibiotic and ordered an xray to be sure there wasn't something else in there causing an issue. Won't hear about that until tomorrow.

[thecfarm]

I will hope things go better tomorrow.

[Jeff]

The cellulitus started making a marked improvement yesterday. It wasn;t near as painful as when I had shingles a few years ago, but it aint no fun. Even though it is subsiding, I have to stay on the antibiotics until they are gone. As it turns out, I don't have that many left now.

[Jim_Rogers]

Good news, and get well soon....

Jim Rogers

[Left Coast Chris]

Great news.  Trying any Activia to keep the intestines in line?

[thecfarm]

That is good news.

[Gary_C]

Good to hear the leg did not fall off.  :D

Did you know that yogurt and ice cream are good probiotics to take to cure the evils of antibiotic consumption?

[SwampDonkey]

I consume copious amounts.  ;D :D But the ice cream I eat is the real kind, not the fake stuff full of bean gum and other fillers. Bleck. ;)



;D

[Jeff]

Had a bit of a relapse. The pain had never really went away, but the leg looked better. Until night before last.  It was later in the evening and I was down for the day, with my feet up in the chair. Big old Harley heard something outdoors, so he decided to use the chair footstool, where I have my legs, as his higher perch to see out side. He planted one of those big black feet right square in the worst spot on my leg. Now I am wondering if I might have had an abscess in there. The next day, yesterday, the leg was swollen again, and began to blister. There was also a raised area about as big around as a golfball where the most pain is. It was bad the whole day, but this morning the swelling again had gone down and it looked much better. There is still some redness, much tenderness and it is still warm. I've run out of the first antibiotic, but still have a couple days left of the second one they gave me. I hope it is enough.

[Gary_C]

Here is some good info that I found here: Dr. Marvin Brown on Why "Bone Bruise" is a Misnomer

What is a bone bruise?
The term bone bruise is a misnomer and makes the injury seem less serious than it is.  A so-called bone bruise is actually a fracturing of the inner layer of bone.
Bones are composed of 2 different types of bony tissue, the compact (cortical) bone and the cancellous (spongy) bone. 

    The compact bone is the outer layer of bone and is highly organized, solid, and extremely strong.  When you injure this layer of the bone, it is referred to as a stress reaction or an occult fracture.
    The cancellous bone is the innermost layer of bone.  Unlike the outer layer of bone, it is not arranged in concentric layers, but in plates (called trabeculae) which form an irregular meshwork that is neither as organized nor as strong as the outer bone.  An injury to this area of the bone represents very small fractures to the trabeculae in the meshwork of the bone and may be referred to as a bone bruise.


How does a bone bruise happen?
This type of injury can be a result of repetitive trauma or stress where the inside of the bone is damaged, resulting in bleeding into the damaged area.  It can also happen as a result of acute trauma, where forces are not strong enough to fracture the outer bone, but are strong enough to fracture the inner layer of bone.

How do you diagnose a bone bruise?
We normally use a combination of patient history, physical examination and MRI to diagnose a fracture to the inner layer of bone.  However, injuries to the inner bone will not be evident on xray or CT scan.

What is the normal treatment for a bone bruise?
I usually recommend bracing or other immobilization of the area to allow it time to heal and to protect it from additional injury that can be caused by bearing weight on the injured area.  Activities also need to be restricted during this healing period, particularly sports play, which can result in additional acute trauma, causing greater injury and/or prolonging the healing time.

How long do you normally expect recovery to take?
Recovery can take several months because the inner layer of bone takes longer to heal than the outer bone.

[Jeff]

THey took an xray of my leg and the dr went on vacation. He said I would be notified if they found something. I've told them from day one the pain seems to be coming right out of the bone, bearing weight on the leg has no effect one way or the other. The pain is considerable less today. In fact, none right now.

[Gary_C]

There are three things I got from that blog I posted.
1. It takes an MRI to diagnose a bone bruise.
2. You need to protect that area from further injury.
3. It could take months for it to heal completely.

So it sounds like you are on the right path and the threat from infection has been minimized. But you need to keep Harley and anything else away from that injury. I could also say to stay off that leg, but I know that would be wasted advice.  ;D

[Ron Scott]

By the size of Harley, I'm sure his "bump" didn't do any good. ;)

[luvmexfood]

Had to get a new front tractor tire put on today. Went over to a local place and saw the owner was moving slow like he had hurt his back. Asked him what he had done. He showed me his right arm, shoulder and chest. 2/3s of right arm was completely red and purple, right shoulder, part of neck and entire right chest down into his stomack area. Thought of that celutis. He had been to the ER when he injuried, once to an Orthopedic Doctor (think that is what he said) and was supposed to go back tomorrow for an MRI if the soreness was gone which it wasn't.

He had been unloading straw off a trailer and stepped through a hole in one of the boards with his feet not hitting the ground and his arm/shoulder took the brunt of it. Man it looked bad.

Did get a new front tire and tube put on, 16 inch, I had the rim off but old tire still on for 75$ plus change. Didn't think that was to bad.

[Jeff]

For the most part, I think my Cellulitis is done.  I have a big weird dent, or perhaps even described as a void in the front of my leg, and a big brown patch of skin where it had been red. The pain is gone and I think I'm done with any infection. I now am dealing with the knee on the same leg that Harley wiped out about a month before the Cellulitis. He hit me full tilt from the side when he or I were neither one looking. Down I went. That big old dog did everything but actually say he was sorry. It's now almost two months later and the knee has become painful with every single step. I limp a bit when I first get going, but one moving that clears up. I only have to sit still for a little while for it to stiffen up and start aggravating me.

[thecfarm]

My Father use to take calium pills. He said it helped out the pain in his knees.