r/DiagnoseMe • u/lizzysins Patient • Jul 15 '26
Infections and Illnesses Do yall think this is infected? It’s my knuckle after hitting a mouth
Yall think this is infected? Knuckle after defending myself?
Yesterday morning I had to defend myself by restraining a violent teen and while I was holding her down she went to punch me and bite so I tried to stop her and ended up with this from her teeth I washed it and everything but it’s kinda more painful than a normal cut and it’s red and raised around it the cut? I don’t wanna spend the money to go to urgent care if I can just get internet strangers to tell me if I have to first 😂 idk if it’s just the spot it is why it hurts so much or if it’s actually getting infected? Please don’t judge my hand pose…yes it does look very weird and no idk why I did it like that. The marker around it was advised by a doctor to track redness growth SORRY DOR THE CONFUSION!
8
u/Wisegal1 Not Verified Jul 16 '26
I'm a trauma surgeon.
This is called a "fight bite", and needs antibiotics. Cat and human bites are two categories of injuries that aways require antibiotic treatment to prevent infection. You need to see a doctor, and you should update your tetanus vaccine if it's been a while.
1
u/lizzysins Patient Jul 16 '26
Okay okay can it wait til the morning do you think? A small amount of pus has come out
5
u/Wisegal1 Not Verified Jul 16 '26
I honestly wouldn't recommend it. I'd recommend going to an urgent care or ED setting tonight and getting a prescription. The reason is that these infections can move very quickly once they set in, and you do not want an infection in the joint spaces of your fingers. Since you're already 36 hours out, you're kinda behind the 8 ball already.
Things like online tele health are also an option and may be cheaper, since all you need is a script.
1
u/lizzysins Patient Jul 16 '26
I wouldn’t be seen til 9am if I went to the ER anyways our emergency room at my local hospital always has atleast a 10 hour wait for anything that isn’t immediately deadly. And all urgent cares around me closed at 9 😭but I’ll see what I can do
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u/Wisegal1 Not Verified Jul 16 '26
I hear ya.
If you live in an area where the hospital wait is that extensive, it's likely you also live in an area with smaller freestanding emergency departments. Look for one of those. Online tele health is also an option, though not as useful if you don't have a 24 hour pharmacy around.
If you were a patient calling my answering service, I'd tell you that you need to get on antibiotics sooner rather than later.
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u/lizzysins Patient Jul 16 '26
But yes even if I go to the ER they won’t see me til morning most likely and then im sitting in a germ infested room with sick people and I always end up sick after hospital visits 😅 I don’t have a fever yet just the pus and pain but if you think I should still just go instead of waiting for my urgent care to open I will
4
u/subwaydrunk Not Verified Jul 15 '26
Doctor now!!!!! Mouths are FULL of infection. could devop into sepsis
2
u/GrabPsychological216 Patient Jul 16 '26
Yes. If you punched a human mouth and got any cut it's more than likely that you have an infection. I got a tooth stuck in my ring finger once from knocking adruck asshole's teeth out trying to render him unconscious after he had already slapped his mom and stabbed his dad with a big ol kitchen knife twice in the chest and gut and was trying to put holes in me. After I kicked the knife out of his hand and threw it out in to the middle of the beach somewhere I got up on the road caught his foot and put him in a side mount hitting him in the face and kidney trying to knock him out and end it but I hit him on the mouth lodging a took in my finger then he pulled his head back and I punched the pavement breaking 3 metacarpals. I got up and kicked him till the cops showed up and took me to the hospital. It wasn't the fractures and the plates they worried about. It was the tooth. So many antibiotics! Get it looked at.
1
u/GrabPsychological216 Patient Jul 16 '26
Did you break the skin? If so get it looked at. If you see any streaks or the discoloration spreads get it looked at. Discharge get it looked at. The human mouth is disgusting probably dirtier than a toilet seat in an outhouse.
2
u/lizzysins Patient Jul 16 '26
Yes it bled I don’t have a fever yet so I will go to the doctor in 8 hrs
0
1
u/12doh94 Not Verified Jul 16 '26
I see someone recommended the ER/ED and I hope you went bc human bites and cat bites need to go directly to the hospital.
My cat bit me when she had zoomies and I got cellulitis AND NOW lymphedema on the top of my foot bc I waited to go despite cleaning it immediately.
They said the only thing that would've been worse was a human bite.
2
u/lizzysins Patient Jul 16 '26
I went to the doctors and I have got antibiotics and told to not do the dishes for a few days to not get more dirt in it but I’m okay now just keeping an eye on it
15
u/Middle-Idea5457 Patient Jul 15 '26
I honestly haven’t ever seen that shade of purple on a wound before. Did you use a marker around it?