A couple of weekends ago something in the garden penetrated the skin of my fingertip, which then turned septic. When I could feel the infection spreading down the finger I called the surgery, emailed two photos, spoke to the duty doctor and within a couple of hours collected a course of penicillin from the pharmacy. It was the start of the long weekend, so I was glad to have the antibiotics on standby. In the event the infection retreated and I didn't need them, but it was one of those "could have gone either way" situations. On Tuesday I handed the meds back, unopened.
"Dangers in the garden" is a topic that's been covered before here, but this is the season to remind CLLers especially in the northern hemisphere that there are serious dangers far less obvious than an out-of-control chainsaw.
Benne - Glad to read your finger situation had a good result! Great post and article attached (it’s a good read).
Can’t say enough about being up on one’s tetanus shot 💉. Number one point in that attached article for very-very good reasons.
As a sidebar note against avoiding dangerous mold situations in gardening (aka, poor composting)… we’ve had a rare super amount of rain where I live (Colorado) the past month and many of us have encountered flooding in our basements and/or crawl spaces. Mold potential growth gardens they can become and thus require careful/safe cleanup practices.
Again, great article n it’s gardening warnings and thankful your situation has turned out ok. Bet you are relieved?!
Yes,I was thankful the tide turned shortly after I got the penicillin so I didn't have to take it.
Good point about mould/ mold. Dr Google suggests that gardening-associated aspergillosis is uncommon. One study in the UK, however, found a disturbing frequency of drug-resistant aspergillus in soil samples ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl....
Glad for you it cleared up without further complications.
Reminds me that I caught a finger with tip of sharp knife two days ago..
It is the reason I own a small dropper bottle of 3% lugol's iodine: a really good antiseptic/antifungal .. 1 drop, at this strength, is circa 1-1.3mg iodine .. it is absorbed via the skin; useful for occasional purposes, likely little harm from fairly regular use. Nb. It will stain the skin orange, but this fades quite quickly.
My knife was fairly clean - my tiny cut ceased all pain this afternoon without my iodine.
Yes, iodine is an old remedy but good stuff. I must get some for the first aid kit. I wasn't aware I'd done anything to my finger until the swelling and inflammation started. There was no visible wound, but something must have got under the skin.
Some part of the UKs health regulators determined that iodine is dangerous -- risk of excess causing harms to thyroid, variously. Of course, some people, out of desperation, carelessness, or ignorance, may indeed misuse such things.. but the regulator ought respect us as adults, perhaps restrict to pharmacist behind the counter (under advisement) sales only?
Meanwhile, some doctors consider that iodine *deficiency* is often the cause of both hypo- and hyper- thyroidism.. *but I am not a doctor, and this is not medical advice*; the UK suffers somewhat uniquely from no longer mandating that table salt be iodised (having added iodine), which measure is still in place in many(?) countries as means to reduce dietary iodine insufficiency. I don't know when this change was made, it makes no sense to me: why is UK so afraid of a little iodine?
Thus were betadine povidone iodine products banned in the UK, yet still readily available in France.. UK hospital staff used to use betadine handwash, which whilst drying to the skin, was very effective.
I also have experience of friend's EKC (keratoconjunctivitis) resolving with approx 10 seconds application of a few drops of 2% povidone iodine solution, followed by prolonged and thorough saline lavage (rinse) -- her eyes stung for some minutes.. but the very nasty infection impacts cleared up inside 2 days.. Babies too commonly receive an iodine eye wash at birth, this the world over.. at correct concentration, suitably rinsed, it delivers beneficial clearing of microbial contamination occuring via birth canal..
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3% Lugol's iodine?
When I started using betadine povidone iodine mouthwash, my issue was a troublesome wisdom tooth -- a few years later it proved to be split and somewhat rotten -- and so this was internal use, where excess strength was likely deleterious.. Then the betadine product disappeared from shelves and I improvised!
I calculated that 1 droplet of 3% Lugol's iodine with a little water as mouth wash delivered circa 1-1.3mg iodine -- that it was a quite safe intake even if I swilled my mouth and swallowed. Whereas 10% would need far greater dilution.. and 3% is still a useful antibacterial / antifungal / antiviral agent for topical application.
If you ask a good independent chemist, they likely have povidone iodine solution to sell you, otherwise you can buy online. High street stores sell a nasty alcohol-iodine solution useful for topical applications only, with no clarity of their concentration/strength.
Thanks for that comprehensive explanation Shedman. When I asked at our pharmacy for iodine solution, the reply was "you can't buy iodine any more... like everything else that works".
She was wrong. Amazon UK sells Lugol's at various strengths, so I bought the 15 % solution, mainly for cuts. I seem to sustain little nicks on the hands on a weekly basis, in the garden or the kitchen. An advantage of the yellow iodine stain is that you can be sure you've hit the target!
UK: I am fairly sure that the administrators/economists [not doctors] of the UK health agencies saw fit to specifically ban Betadine brand povidone iodine.. that it is still perfectly legal for pharmacies to buy and sell lugol's iodine, perhaps specifically behind the counter.. where Amazon is less safely constrained.
15% - any strength stings on a cut, but is very effective, thus 5%? 10%? ..is painted oft painted on prior to surgery.
I had to dilute 10% most carefully for DIY 'EKC' treatment [not something to attempt alone - two pairs of hands vital] described above; iodine is strongly oxidising, great caution is advised near eyes and mucous membranes -- it can hurt and do harm in such places.
1-2drops of 3% iodine in 30ml (cc) of water gives a slightly metallic taste when used as a mouthwash, with a briefly lingering odd sensation.
Ouch, that looks nasty. I'm pleased it settled down without the need for antibiotics.
Thanks for the timely reminder for those in warmer climes. Here, as we edge to the winter solstice, it's grey, wet and cold. I can't wait for the days to get longer and brighter so I can enjoy more time in the garden.
For those interested in garden safety, here's a post from about six months ago that also contains some helpful information.
Ouch that's nasty. Glad it resolved itself without antibiotics. Are you up to date with your tetanus. I always wear gloves whatever I am doing in the garden and when dealing with compost, I put a mask on to avoid exposure to possible bugs.
TBH I never thought that my tetanus immunisation might be out of date until I read the above article. I need to call the surgery to arrange a Covid booster, and I'll ask them to check my records.
Lavender essential oil is also a good general antiseptic. I always keep a bottle on me for cuts or mild burns. We're currently on holiday in Spain and I expect to be using it on my husbands mozzie bites, they bite him, not me! Also smells nice
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