posted
No, I have not seen a doctor. There isn't time to find one before the quarter ends, but I'll see one as soon as I get back home at the end of the quarter(June 10). Anyway, to the problem.
A few weeks ago, I made the mistake of wearing a pair of sandals to mass on Saturday night. I walk to mass, a long ways that includes going up a hill, and then I walk back. This caused some blistering on the ball of my right foot, up into slightly between my big toe and my second toe, where the sandal top connected with the bottom in between the toes. I get blisters relatively often when I wear shoes I don't normally wear(if that makes sense), so it was no big deal.
The blisters popped, as they normally do, and the dead skin fell off. I went back to wearing my regular shoes, but... my foot keeps blistering. Every day, it seems, there's a new blister. And recently, as of this past weekend, the blisters have been filled with a thick, white pus that smells BAD. VERY bad.
I wear socks with my shoes, I don't wear socks to bed, and while I share a shower with four other girls, I wear flip-flops in the shower itself. I've looked on webmd and other sites, and haven't found ANYTHING that sounds like this. Any ideas? And any idea what I can do to make it feel better before I can see a doctor? Bandaids don't stick well, and the raw skin when the blisters pop is kind of painful.
Posts: 1591 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Stinky pus is a sign of infection, usually, isn't it? If so, I'd be leery of waiting until June 10. Can you go to a walk-in clinic? You don't need to find a doc you're going to be seeing on a regular basis, you just need someone to take a look at your foot.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I'm in a TINY college town, now, not in Columbus anymore. The only clinic is the student health clinic, and I've been warned by EVERYONE here, including professors and people who have worked there, not to go there. Ever. Because they rarely help, and more often make things worse.
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How badly do you want to keep that foot? If you're not too fond of it, you can certainly afford to wait several weeks to see a doctor.
Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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Yeah. Are you insured? Is your deductible on an ER visit $100 or less? If so, I'd go to the ER, even if it meant a 5 hour wait.
If not, then I'd open the phone book and look under "urgent care." If there's nothing there, I'd look under "doctors: podiatrists." If there's nothing there, I'd look under "doctors: general care/family medicine." And then I'd call one and ask for the next available appointment.
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(If you'd care to tell what town you're in, I could try to find a clinic for you within an hour away. I've gotten pretty good at that sort of thing the past few years.)
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I agree that what you describe sounds like an infection, and that you really ought to seek medical help.
Band-aids aren't going to stick well there. You can wash your foot nicely with soap and water, dry it, and then bandage the foot with a 4x4 piece of sterile gauze, held on with bandage tape or with a piece of 2" rolled gauze wrapped around the foot to hold it securely. You may have to wrap the rolled gauze for a turn around the ankle, too, to keep it from slipping. Something like Bacitracin Ointment can't hurt (unless, of course, you are allergic to Bacitracin Ointment).
You may need an antibiotic pill for the infection, and sometimes doctors will recommend soaking the foot in a warm Epsom Salt solution, but that's something you should see the doctor for. The student health clinic may be able to provide you with the bandages that you need to take care of your foot, and with a prescription for antibiotics. If you don't trust them, don't let them cut your foot to debride or drain it. You can refuse surgery from them, and still accept pills and bandages.
And that's what I'd recommend.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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KQ, I'm in Athens, OH. There is a hospital here, just off campus, the question is whether they take my insurance or not. The soonest I'd be able to get an appointment there would be Monday, but I'll call and ask how soon I can get in tomorrow afternoon. I'm more looking for advice on how to make it feel better, and how to keep things from getting in the open blisters, UNTIL I can see a doctor.
(and, if anyone who's read this has been following my health saga what with the anxiety attacks and whatnot, well... I'm kind of on my own, since the only doctor my parents will let me see back home is one who I'd hesitate to even CALL a doctor, with his history of misdiagnoses of serious conditions.)
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A phone call to the hospital -- even at this hour of the night -- can answer your insurance question. Hospitals don't close; I'm sure that there is someone in the Emergency Room who can tell you if your insurance is accepted.
And you don't really need an appointment for the Emergency Room, although, if they have a clinic, that would be a better choice.
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Holzer Clinic Athens, urgent care hours 9-9 7 days a week and holidays, walk in available.
Other than that, I found the ER at the local hospital.
I can look further afield if you need something lower-cost, but I think the clinic shouldn't be TOO expensive. Do you have enough cash to cover a $70-$150 visit if your insurance doesn't cover either the ER or the clinic? 'Cause the clinic will almost certainly be cheaper than the ER without insurance.
I'd probably try the clinic first. And ask for a price for a visit when you call.
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(Oh, and if you need advice further, or more specific, than what Tante gave you, you might try calling the local hospital and asking if they have a nurse advice line. I didn't see one on their website but I didn't look too hard.)
(But I just want to emphasise what Tante said about it being important to see a doc to determine the extent of an infection and probably get on antibiotics, as soon as possible. Infections spreading up your leg=not good.)
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Thanks, KQ and Tante. The blisters only cover about two square inches, so I'm not all that worried. I had an ingrown toenail on the same foot last year that was painful enough for them to give me Vicodin- but when I finally went to the ER, the doc looked at it and immediately said, "Oh, well that's not bad. Here I was thinking it was turning green or something. We don't even need to drain that sucker."
Oh, and I can't really go anywhere this weekend, because I'm headed home this afternoon, and I have class until then. Monday would be my first opportunity, or Wednesday, depending on the primary care physician's hours(and my class schedule).
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Since you're going home this weekend, could you go to an urgent care facility at home (I'd imagine you know of one there that works with your insurance)?
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I can't really go anywhere at home. If I did, I'd have to sneak out for it. My mom is... insistent about me only seeing one doctor... the one who misdiagnosed me, my sister, and my mother, all three times when there was something rather serious going on. I refuse to see him on that principle alone.
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Ah, I was thinking it wouldn't be an issue, since his office wouldn't be open on the weekends anyway. Would your mom really refuse to take you to an urgent care facility on a weekend?
If you're old enough to be going away to school, you should be old enough that you can choose to see whatever doctor you want and your mom can't really do anything about it....
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That's an unfortunate situation about the doctor. I too was thinking urgent care would be the only thing open on the weekend. Or that maybe you could stop on the way home (is there one near a bus stop anywhere?)
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If the infection seems to be localized (i.e. no redness or swelling in other parts of the foot, I'd put some polysporin or other antibiotic salve on it regularly at least until you can get to a doctor.
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It doesn't sound like you have any serious issue except that it's strange the blisters keep coming back... I recommend wearing as little as possible on your feet for as long as possible--Keep it dry/slathered with antibiotic juice. If you have any antibiotics laying around take those. It might be worth investing in some Moleskin, or other similar product, which is used (generally for hiking, running and such) to prevent blisters. But again, you don't want it to be a soaking wet fester-zone, but a happy medium between high and dry, and medicated.
Posts: 655 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Tinros: A few weeks ago, I made the mistake of wearing a pair of sandals to mass on Saturday night.
Are you no longer Wiccan, then?
I'm not really ANYthing right now. I got asked to sing in a Saturday night choir at a Catholic church as a favor to a friend, since I'm a musician, can sing halfway decently, and don't mind spending my Saturday nights at a church.
My mom won't let me go to Urgent Care for anything except absolute emergencies. And since this thing doesn't seem to be spreading, it would be best for me to wait till I'm back at school, I think. I drove home, and I'm already here... be driving back Monday, when nothing's open anyway.
The blisters are honestly more annoying than painful- it's only painful when the dead skin falls off of one of them after it pops, and that's just because I have raw skin that's exposed underneath them. I COULD take a picture of it, but I don't think anyone would want to see that. The rest of my foot is fine, no pain, no swelling, nothing.
As for keeping things off my feet, at school that's not really an option, as I'm in a dorm and I could get something a lot worse by going barefoot. This weekend, though, I'll be sure to air it out some.
Posts: 1591 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I already gave you my advice, but I just wanted to say that this:
quote:Originally posted by Starsnuffer: If you have any antibiotics laying around take those.
is poor advice. Taking "any antibiotics laying around" is just a bad idea. Different antibiotics are good for different things (something for a sore throat or urinary tract infection may not be appropriate for a skin infection, for instance), you will surely have less than a full course of whatever antibiotics you land up taking, all of which leads to and breeds drug-resistant bacteria and infections, which are difficult to treat and which you really don't want to unleash on yourself or the community.
I stand by my original advice. Keep it clean, bandaged, with Bacitracin ointment on it, and go see a doctor.
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And hopefully you don't have any antibiotics laying around, because you're always supposed to take them until they're all gone.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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*nods* And if for some reason you have extras (were issued too many, original patient had a bad reaction, etc.), you should take them to your local toxic waste disposal collection.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Well, the foot, while looking kinda icky, doesn't have any new blisters. I tried to call the campus hospital, where my insurance had a list of providers, but they kept telling me I needed an insurance card- I don't, I have military insurance, so I just use my military ID. So, my dad is calling as we speak to see if he can sort things out, and get me an appointment set up sometime soon.
Edit: I would never just take random antibiotics. I don't think we even HAD any at home, and I certainly don't have any at school with me. I take all my prescription medicine when I'm told to take it, no other time.
Edit upon the Edit: The appointment is Friday at two- that's the soonest I could get in with my class schedule.
posted
The blisters cleared up. Completely. On their own. I have to say, this is one of the weirder things that's ever happened to my body.
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Did you do the thing with the washing it and putting on a bandage and bacitracin, or just left it to its own devices?
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Well, I've been keeping it extra clean, but unbandaged, without ointment or anything. And it's just kind of... cleared up. The next time I get anything like that, though, I will see a doctor ASAP.
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