Scratched finger

cowboycoyote · Apr 9, 2023

Hi all so today I was of course in my tank with no gloves which was dumb of me but I was just sticking a frag to its new home. Anyway I scraped my index finger by the cuticle and immediately took my hand out and washed it with water and soap and put neosporin on it.

fast forward this morning, I woke up and my hand is a little achy and I fell down a complete rabbit hole with all the scary infections people have gotten from their tank

I’m not sure if after looking I’m imaging my hand aching more lol but it’s making me nervous since I do see a red area where I scratched my finger. Has anyone had this happen and it turned out fine (or not and what to look for?) it would be appreciated im already stressed about my finals coming up next week

Fishnut · Apr 9, 2023

I never use gloves while working in my tanks and in 50 years have never had an issue.

jft · Apr 9, 2023

cowboycoyote said:
Hi all so today I was of course in my tank with no gloves which was dumb of me but I was just sticking a frag to its new home. Anyway I scraped my index finger by the cuticle and immediately took my hand out and washed it with water and soap and put neosporin on it.

fast forward this morning, I woke up and my hand is a little achy and I fell down a complete rabbit hole with all the scary infections people have gotten from their tank I’m not sure if after looking I’m imaging my hand aching more lol but it’s making me nervous since I do see a red area where I scratched my finger. Has anyone had this happen and it turned out fine (or not and what to look for?) it would be appreciated im already stressed about my finals coming up next week

I am a physician and medical pathologist so I will offer this advice. First it seems you did the right thing by washing it out and applying antibiotic creme. The body will react to all wounds by an inflammatory response redness, local heat warmth, loss of localized function iif the wound is deeper enough to allow for rest and healing. If you experience a fever or nausea and spreading infection then get to the Doctor to evaluate. I have been keeping all kinds of aqauriums and turtles for 35 years, Just practice good hygiene and wash your hands after working in tanks. If you don t have a imm unocompromised system you should be fine. Just relax and always check with ur doc if you are not sure. good luck with your exams and Tank.

o2manyfish · Apr 9, 2023

Doc JFT Covered what's going on.

It all depends on who you are and what you scratched it on. I handled SPS by the 1000's for 3 years and then all of a sudden my finger tips went numb and the tissue started coming off. I wear gloves for everything now a days. Yet other people handle them by the 1000's for years and years with no issue.

I have a friend who has an Aquarium Maintenace company, he ran is forearm past a big LPS coral - Hammer or Frogspawn, and was almost hospitalized the infection on his entire forearm got so nasty. And yet the majority of people brush past these LPS without issue.

Your body is going to react different than my body to some of the stinging potential of the different corals we keep in our tanks.

Dave B