UKC

I took the skin off the joints on my fingers whilst bouldering last week. Done this a few times now when slipping off crimps, but this time one seems to be very slightly swollen and a bit purple. It also lets a bit of pus/gunck out of the cut when pressure is applied.

Is this normal after a fairly deep cut, or may it be a bit infected?

If so, anything I can do to help it recover faster?

Cheers
James

In reply to James Malloch:

Rightly or wrongly I was always taught if it's warm it's probably infected and to keep emptying it and keep it clean etc... But in saying that there's really no alternative to a good old fashioned quack to set the record straight

Al

In reply to James Malloch: If there's pus then it's got a bit of an infection. Keep it clean, your body should sort it out. I've had the same on long climbing trips and it started getting better when I cleaned it.

Goes without saying that if it doesn't go away then you should probably mention it to a doctor...

In reply to James Malloch: Sounds like you just have an infection. Application of TCP and Savlon should help it heal a bit quicker.

In reply to EeeByGum:

Not to mention showing girls what happens when you squeeze it.

In reply to James Malloch:

You have good old fashioned "grit rash" caused by the lichen on the grit getting into your wound. Usually clears up on its own but obviously seek medical advice if it is hot,itchy,pus comes out, or redness starts tracking from the wound site.

Do this a lot and you will get nice scarred, calloused skin which is perfect for those jamming cracks.

Wear your wound with pride

In reply to James Malloch:

Hot water and iodine followed by tight plasters with germolene or generic similar should fix it in a day or 2 depending on how long it's been left to fester...

In reply to MonkeyPuzzle:

I had a massive graze on my arm that had had lots of oil and dirt forced into it. When I squeezed it hundreds of individual droplets of pus would come out of all of the holes. I could gauge how impressive girls thought it was by the amount of time they spent retching.

In reply to David Hooper:
Yep, grit rash. Its cool because of the impressive pychadelic colouring of the scabs. You can normally tell what day of the week you did the damage by the colours as over a week or so they'll go from a bit red to yellowish, light green, darker green through to brown. They go furry at about day 4 and thats when they are most pleasing. The back of my hands are like a relief map of the Lake district after years of crap technique!

In reply to James Malloch:
Itll be infected.

This happens very regularly with climbing cuts on all rocks and indoors. I once had some really nasty thing where lumps grew all over my hand after cuting my hadn jamming up that long HVS pitch on the left hand side of Black Crag in Borrowdale. Use of savlon should be a standard procedure after every day out.

In reply to Flashy:
that's just a graze

In reply to James Malloch:
It's Gods way of telling you to climb limestone

In reply to mark20:

Fixed that for you

In reply to James Malloch:

But this time one seems to be very slightly swollen and a bit purple. It also lets a bit of pus/gunck out .


If you have encountered a nasty deep gash, then you should expect purple swelling and then the release of gunck. Once this happens you should see the swelling reduce and experience a sense of relief...

Hope this helps
Dr Big Jonnie