Small Scrapes Expand?

[wizzard166]

I've been online with our site for a number of years now, so this question I'm asking input on makes me a little embarrassed; still, I'd appreciate everyone's input.

I've recently noticed that even a tiny scrape, small prick, whatever, ends up not just healing and disappearing in one day. Instead now it gets red around it and expands a bit. So lets say a pin prick ends up the size of a small circle about one quarter inch in diameter. It lasts maybe five days or so (I haven't tracked it), and then begins to diminish until gone. Two days ago I noticed a small pink line maybe an eigth of an inch, that this morning is about three eights of an inch and red with a scab in the middle, and a reddish circle around it.

Again to those of you who have truly serious side effects from medication, and other problems, I'm sorry for posting this minor issue. The thing is my mind over works and can run away with itself, and I've been wondering a lot if this minor thing is a symptom many of us have as our condition progresses.

Thanks to anywone who replies with some input.

Carl

[cllady01 Former Volunteer]

See this post (it is top of the list under the RELATED POSTS column).

But don't take the title personally. It is not unusual for CLL and other immunocompromised people to not know everything that is important in staying well. We are all here to learn from each other and learning is not something that happens in the same sequence or at the same speed for each person.

I hope this helps and gives you a place to check when you need to do so.

healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

[wizzard166 in reply to cllady01]

Thank you Lady

[GMa27]

Even before CLL I would get bruises ...a feather could scrape me and I would have it for days. Arnica lotion is great for black n blues. The red ones are petechia or purpura. I get them and I am in remission. I wear short sleeves & bathing suits all the time living in Florida. I just ignore them now. They usually go away within 5 days. We all focus on different things that could bother us and whatever anyone is bothered by something, we are entitled to feel that way & no one else can validate it or not. It's how you feel. Sometimes I like to just complaining about the silliest things. But hopefully it's short lived & we move on. 💕

[wizzard166 in reply to GMa27]

I appreciate your input GM. I've always healed and gotten over injuries quickly earlier in life, but now l'm seeing a big difference. I havent known if it is my age or my CLL. So I was interested to see if a number of us on this site indicate something similar to what I'm experiencing.

[HailMary-USA]

Hi Carl. I’m not a medical professional, but would add the following to Neil’s cautionary post linked by clllady01:

A red (or pink) line extending from a wound toward the heart is known to be a strong indication of blood infection. More concerning as it is lengthening.

Worsening and expanding redness can also indicate infection requiring antibiotics.

Please get examined quickly at an Urgent Care center or even by Telemed appointment.

I once dragged a reluctant friend to the ER because of a telltale red line from a point of previous steroid injection.

She was found to have a very serious infection requiring six weeks of heavy duty PICC line antibiotics.

No harm in your getting checked out by a real doctor.

Take care and best wishes.

Mary.

[wizzard166 in reply to HailMary-USA]

Hey Hail Mary

I love the name; of course, I'm an old football fan.

I've been knowledgeable about the indications when a wound shows inflammation around it and then it spreads being a really bad sign. So I've been on top of the little issues I've been having. My reason for interest is wondering if others with CLL like me began to see similar signs with these tiny wounds that increase in size and inflammation, after years of that not happening. I'm wondering if its a sign of my immune system decreasing in ability or low platelets beginning to show signs of failure to heal or both (or none)

I forgot to mention it to my Boston Oncologist on the visit I just had in late September, because it wasn't heavy on my mind, but since then I've had another two or three similar little ones. So I'm trying to gage by whatever replies I get here if it is something common to all of us as we progress with our illness.

See your in Western PA. I spent nine years in Harrisburg between '79 and '88, and I definitely liked Central PA. Never got to the far West part of the State however to enjoy whatever is there.

Carl

[HailMary-USA in reply to wizzard166]

Oh I see, Carl. Yes, my minor wounds have been slow to heal the past few years.

(CLL history is in my profile.)

I did have a bad finger infection 3 years ago which required oral antibiotics. Invisible origin, no cuts or scrapes.

I had been cleaning organic vegetables for soup, letting them soak as I took frequent rest breaks. Repeatedly immersing my ungloved hands in the water allowed some invader to sneak in along the cuticle.

Within a couple of days a very large blister-like dark swelling appeared.

My PCP saw me in person and said to report back after two days on meds, because if it hadn’t improved, she was sending me to a surgeon(!).

Lesson learned. I now follow doc’s advice to Always wear gloves on kitchen duty.

Western Pa is sadly known for its lack of sunshine. But lately we’ve been blessed and I’m calling this a new permanent trend☀️😎

Mary

[guzzifan]

Hi wizzard. Yes, I also find minor injuries tend to get a bit infected and very slow to heal. Made worse by my skin being more fragile now (age 70). As soon as I get any minor scrape or cut (usually on my hands), I apply Crystaderm (hydrogen peroxide cream) to it and cover it. I always have at least 1 plaster on my hands, usually more, as healing of even small scrapes can take well over a week.

[wizzard166 in reply to guzzifan]

Hey Guzzi

So what does it mean to be a fan of Guzzi?

In any case I'm relaxing tonight with the first large drink I've permitted myself in the last four or five nights. So tonight I don't really care about much, including my wife being away over one month tonight with another few weeks to go. Nor do I care about my little scratches. I've been working my .........end off since October 15th, which in the good old US of A is known as Medicare Annual Election Period. It stretches from October 15th through December 7th, during which anyone on Medicare can change their Medicare health plans. My work is helping people with those Medicare health plans, so I've been running ragged since October 15th. That's because I'm successful with this work, so I have a huge number of people who I've helped who stay with me, so during these eight weeks I'm going hard from morning till night. But tonight is Saturday Night, so I've earned a steep one or two.

Anyway the reason I posted this one about small scratches, as ridiculous as it might seem to many, is because I've noticed this difference in my healing and in small little things becoming inflamed and lasting a week or more. So I'm trying to get a feel for whether or not this is related to my CLL and its progression. I figure if enough people reply indicating it is happening to them too, then I've learned something. Not too many people have cared to reply to this one, so I'm not really learning anything so far. Most of my other posts draw a large number of responses, so I don't feel bad about this one.

But it feels good to hear from someone all the way in that other part of the World, where I guess New Zealand is, so thank you for caring. I know where Australia is. Is New Zealand very close to Australia? Australia has produced a large number of singers I've appreciated, and also actors, but I'm not too familiar with New Zealand.

Carl

[guzzifan in reply to wizzard166]

Hi wizz,

I guess my Moto Guzzi serves the same function for me as "a steep one or two" serves for you. It has enabled me to maintain at least some degree of sanity in today's world, though my wife might not agree with its effectiveness. Sounds like you're working hard - watch those stress levels or you'll go mad like me.

I find that my skin has got thinner and more fragile recently, which I attribute to age. And I think the ease of infection is due to being immunocompromised by CLL (my last IgG level was 1.7 g/L, with a reference range of 7 - 14, so really low). Being on a BTK inhibitor may not help, but I don't know how much I can blame that. I try to remember to wear gloves when working outside or working on my bikes, but I quite often forget and always end up bleeding over everything.

NZ probably is close to Aus in the context of USA distances. Auckland to Sydney is about a 3.5 hr flight, but in this time of Covid it may as well be 3.5 weeks. I'm looking forward to a holiday there when the borders open and I feel safe enough to stick my head up above the parapet, as it were. Could be some time yet.

Buy some gloves/long pants/titanium cod-piece, depending on exactly where you are injuring yourself, and take care.

Cheers. -Jim.

[wizzard166 in reply to guzzifan]

Thanks for the knowledge, and I too am a guzzifan.

The little I knew about New Zealand was what I learned very early in the rise of Covid. I read an article that some Americans with extreme wealth were buying into a remote section of New Zealand, due to the lack of spread of Covid to your Country.

[morepork]

Hi Carl, thought I'd chip in as another New Zealander down here in the South Pacific.My small wounds and scratches also take twice as long to heal as before - especially on places like the shin . As a backup to Jim's comment about where we are situated- I used the HU 'Find People Near Me' option and was guided not only to some others in NZ but also to folks as far away as Western Australia - which if you are like me merely made me laugh - 'near' being rather elastic. 😊

[wizzard166 in reply to morepork]

Now this is truly interesting. Your Countryman uses the term Guzzifan to mean liking a lot of stiff drinks. Now your name is morepork, which I'll guess means liking a lot of pork. I wonder if I'm onto something with nicknames common to New Zealanders; in other words, based around liking a lot of something. I'm probably off on that concept, but it shows what I mean when I say my mind never stops working. I do like a lot of pork by the way.

Carl

[DRM18 in reply to wizzard166]

Lol! I always read morepork's name as being a possible nod to Ankh-Morpork, the over-stuffed city in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, as well as a declaration of a love of pork.

Perhaps as a wizard (#166), you're familiar with Discworld and its Unseen University?

[morepork in reply to wizzard166]

I think Guzzifan (Jim) loves his Moto Guzzi motorcycle like you like your stiff drinks .And my Morepork is one of the words for our native owl -as the HU site would not accept Ruru, its native name.( Confusingly I don't eat pork ) As DRM18 noted, Terry Pratchett, my favourite writer, picked up on the word from a visit to NZ or reading about it, so I'm told. 😎

[wizzard166 in reply to morepork]

Oh well I guess I got both guesses wrong

[blowinginthewind]

This isn't a minor issue, at least my GP says it isn't. It happens to me too, I have two at the moment. I have spoken to doctor and haematologist and now have some cream at home, called Fucidin (aka fucidic acid). As soon as something happens I put the cream on - typically 4 times a day. It is an antibiotic cream and it works for me. However, if it gets worse or a line comes out I am go straight to GP. So you need to get this looked at immediately - it can quickly turn to sepsis which is very serious. And then ask for the cream to keep at home. I hope it all works out well.

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator in reply to blowinginthewind]

Here's a personal example of a red line back into my armpit nodes, which presumably originated from an insect bite I didn't even feel...

healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

[blowinginthewind in reply to AussieNeil]

Mine didnt hit my nodes, my sepsis was also an insect bit I didnt feel, and then a large red patch, and travelling up my leg. We immediately took me to A&E, who admitted me. I was lucky. I was discharged after a couple of days with a nurse coming in to check me, do the usual abs and give me IV antibiotic. That lasted for longer than it should have done - because my white cells were very high. This was pre-diagnosis with CLL. I suspect that given the hospital I was in, it didnt occur to anyone that I may have CLL.

[Test_Tech]

Hello wizzard166, The same things happened to me this summer. I was three years into w&w and for the first time in my life all of the mosquito bites I had turned red and grew to the size of quarters. I used Neosporin topical on them. So don't be embarrassed, I know this is due to our CLL.

Everett

[wizzard166 in reply to Test_Tech]

Hey Test Tech

I like horses too.

From the increased replies I can see I was onto something. Actually I first noticed a change in me with a bang I took on my shin, when I walked into a drawer left open by a teen ager in his bedroom. I didnt break anything, but it took much longer to subside and for the pain to go away than before my CLL. Now even over a year later, there is still a brown round area on my shin where the original injury was.

Carl

[Sunsurfsand]

Hello - I'm still in W&W. Since I was diagnosed in 2019, I've had a much harder time healing from minor cuts . It takes weeks rather than days. And I also find that small injuries (particularly to my shins) can become infected easily. So far I've needed antibiotics twice in the last year to clear up infection. Dr indicated it was probably due to my lowered IGG status. So maybe age & immunocompromised state?

[janvog]

I am 80+ with geriatric thin skin and no collagen. I wear arm protectors which also protect the hand, except the fingers. In addition I wear white dermatology gloves. This protects from scrapes. The arm protectors are like thick socks, but cover arm and hand, except fingers.