Sweet Gummi Mary! I think Farmer H's surgeon/doctor was right! The most recent redness around his rumpus was from the BANDAID used to cover it! Of course, he still had the half-stitch left in his incision that needed to come out, to stop the constant irritation, and let his incision close completely. But what I discovered Friday evening makes me a believer in this bandaid conspiracy! That surg/doc wasn't just whistlin' Dixie.
Remember how I mentioned that my leg was itching almost unbearably on Wednesday night? It was all I could do not to scratch. No way do I want to infect my gaping gouge from T-Hoe's door. Anyhoo... I figured it would eventually stop. Must be the healing process. I mentioned it to Farmer H, and he said, yeah, stuff itches as it heals.
I was preoccupied with getting the Thanksgiving foods ready on Thursday. Too busy to get in the shower before the big meal. Once it was over, and right before I got up to wash the dishes, I told Pony that I was taking off my bandaid from the day before, to let my leg breathe a bit. It came off easily (the bandaid, not the leg, heh, heh!).
I decided to leave the bandaid off overnight. I was busy cleaning up the kitchen, and reuniting with HIPPIE at the kitchen table. Farmer H went to bed. So I just skipped my shower. Took one on Friday before going to town. Farmer H was off at his SUS2 (Storage Unit Store 2), unavailable for bandaiding me. So again, I let my wound breathe.
When I got home and changed out of town clothes, I asked Farmer H to take a look and make sure my boo-boo wasn't getting infected. He gasped.
"WHAT? Is it infected? It doesn't hurt."
"No. But those bandaids are definitely causing a reaction! I'll take a picture for you."
Welp! Or should I say "WELT!" Here's the evidence. Look away, if the thumbnail didn't already scare you off. The gaping wound is not the focus, but the ITCHY RED SKIN AROUND IT!
No mistaking that shape! And that's AFTER a day without the bandaid! The bandaid that came off easily, one half of it already flapping and unstuck. We're not using them any more! I have half a mind to write Band-Aid and send them this picture. But the other half of my mind is lazy. Besides, they'd probably just send me some coupons for free bandaids. Something is definitely wrong here! Maybe a bad batch of glue.
What are the odds that both Farmer H and I, two completely unrelated people, would have this reaction?
5 comments:
I've had 2 different situations, where friends had a reaction to the bandage. Couldn't say what brand they were but in one case, the reaction to the bandage was worse than the infected cut that were trying to protect, so much so, that the cut healed fine, but she needed medication/cream to heal the rash from the bandage. Every time I use a bandaid, I think of her. I hope you heal without needing any additional medication, you or Hick. Ranee
Rae,
I'm still itching, but not constantly, and not as bad. Farmer H looks like his rumpus is recovering, at the cost of skin-shedding. The only skin reactions I usually get are from lanolin. It's in Eucerin Cream, which is a great waterproof kind of moisturizer. I used it on Baby Genius's and Baby Pony's rumpuses when they were in diapers. No problem with it on my hands, but when I tried to use it anywhere else, like wrist or arm or normal skin not palms... I broke out in a raised red blotchy rash. So I always check ingredients now on lotions.
Pretty sure this reaction will eventually fade. I'm leaving everything off of the area for now. Keep my pants pulled up so the area is exposed to air when I'm home. I'm only in regular pants for an hour or so during my town trip. I don't think that will affect my wound, but I have Farmer H take a look every evening. It's around on the back of my calf, up under the knee area, where I can't get a good look.
Keeping your pants pulled up isn't necessary unless they are skin tight. The area will heal now that the bandaid is off. I suggest for future wounds (hopefully none will happen) that you use gauze pads with that white adhesive tape used by doctors and is available from the pharmacies. Your red skin looks just like my bandaid reaction, which is why I now remove them as soon as any bleeding stops. It's possible you and Farmer H (and me) have developed allergic reactions to the bandaids.
I remember my older son, baby #2, having a reaction to Lanolin baby cream, I tried it because a friend said it was great, but after M got red and inflamed I switched back to good old Vaseline and gave the lanolin to the friend for her baby.
I was going to suggest a reaction between the bandaid and the ointment, but I don't use any ointments so that may not be the problem, probably a developed allergy.
River,
Do not presume to know my pantsing needs! They are not skin tight, but are sweat pants of soft cotton, in the style of track pants (not the elastic ankle type). Leaving the leg down would be fine, except for fluid oozing out of my open wound, which gets the pants leg wet, and is absolutely FREEZING in this cold, cold Mansion where I put on a sock cap and two jackets! So I'm saving myself from hypothermia. I stuff a washcloth in my sock, which catches the seeping fluid before it can soak my sock top, and then change it out when need be. The gauze pads leak, and that kind of tape is fine for a while, but after several changes, my skin rips off.
That lanolin cream was a miracle for preventing diaper rash. Thankfully my baby Genius and Pony did not have an allergy to it.
***
River 2,
Yeah, the ointment was only on the middle pad, not on the sticky parts. Otherwise it wouldn't stick, which Farmer H has learned in the past, thanks to my REMINDING him about it. So he's frugal with the ointment. It must be something in the adhesive that's different from past brand name bandaids and the cheaper ones we most often use.
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