Swollen knuckles

[ajhudson15]

Curious - is it 2 different fingers - or 2 joints on 1 finger. or is 2 knuckles

it started with my ring finger. the second knuckle fro my nail. then my whole finger, then the next day it was my middle and ring finger, and then by yesterday evening was my whole hand. I have been taking ibuprofen and using ice but hasn't helped much. this morning it was way better but as the day goes one I can still feel it getting puffy and harder to use. like I said it could be totally unrelated but I have done nothing different within the last couple weeks and the fact that it is my right hand which is the hand that always hits the water is weird.

 

[MnFish1]

it started with my ring finger. the second knuckle fro my nail. then my whole finger, then the next day it was my middle and ring finger, and then by yesterday evening was my whole hand. I have been taking ibuprofen and using ice but hasn't helped much. this morning it was way better but as the day goes one I can still feel it getting puffy and harder to use. like I said it could be totally unrelated but I have done nothing different within the last couple weeks and the fact that it is my right hand which is the hand that always hits the water is weird.

It may be unrelated to your tank - I had a similar issue after cleaning my tank one day - I reached under a large coral and felt a 'prick' like a pin. within an hour there was a blister there and it was a little'itchy' by that night it was about an inch and red -but I felt fine. By the next am it was a 6 inch red spot - I put Benadryl on it. Later that day it was hard and red and sore as heck (and draining a little fluid). I went to the ER - who sent me to Infectious disease - they said - it could be vibrio or some rare thing - but common things are common - its probably staph or strep. They gave me one dose of IV antibiotics - and then 2 oral antibiotics for 3 weeks - it gradually got better (was probably staph or strep) - about 2 months later it was still red - and about 3 months later a little piece of calcium (assumedly a small piece of coral) popped out - and it healed completely.

Its very unlikely that unless you're really sick that its vibrio - but - as someone else said - anything with your hand can result in a really difficult infection to treat - so even if its a strep infection or staph or something less 'dangerous'. I think there's a reason that lots of people are suggesting you get to see someone 'sooner than later':)..... Hope it gets better either way

 

[scriptmonkey]

No bug at all. The fact that you swelled so much and then went down isn’t a bad sign. Maybe it was “just” the toxin from a paly. Also nail biters that also do filing of papers can get fungal infections not to mention staph and strep skin infections. Odd to go up and down. Did you take any meds that might have caused them to go down and masked that symptoms?

Best advise is to see a doc. May get blown off I would take the article then at least they have to play the defensive medicine game and be a little more thorough. Sucks but it’s true. Hands are built in compartments and if the infection is in a compartment it can build pressure on the order of hours causing problems all the way to limb loss or worse! Don’t play too long.

Do not like to beat around the bush, figure call in the Pro and let him make an informed decision.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Maddlesrain]

I’m in several Facebook reefing groups and there are periodic posts that circulate of hobbyists with an extremely infected portion of the hand/ finger. They don’t happen often, but those individuals are usually hospitalized. I think one guy even said they were worried he might have to amputate part of his finger. Some of them I think brushed a rock or something and actually got the cut in the tank, but it’s still very possible to have really bad reactions to your aquarium.

 

[ajhudson15]

thanks for the help. I don't recall scraping or being poked by anything. and since I already have knicks on my hands from normal yard work and what not its hard to tell if anything poked me in the tank that I don't remember.