SI Question - infection or not?

[sweet_violin]

two days back I cut pretty deep. I should have gotten stitches I think but anyway;
The sides of the wound are very separated and there is greenish yellow stuff on top of it. It really looks kinda gros.

So my question:
Do I have to treat it in some kind of way? It hurts pretty bad and I don't know wether it is infected or not. How do you even see that?

Thnks!

[Emmabob.]

green = not right. get it checked.

[sweet_violin]

I can't: I'm underaged and my parents don't know about my SH.

[Bleeding Angel]

you can still get treatment, doctors cant contact your parents unless its life threatening. Saying you parents dont know and your underage is just an excuse really, you can still be treated.

[chinahorse]

Here is a link to the article on the main site about infection,

http://www.recoveryourlife.com/index.php?categoryid=90

But I agree with Emmabob, green generally means that something is not right and you need to seek a medical opinion on the wound.

This may sound harsh but if you make the decision to self harm you have to be prepared to deal with the consequences, eg seeking medical attention, or you parents finding out or infections. And to be perfectly blunt, why post for advice if you are not prepared to follow it?

[Emmabob.]

either get it checked out, or risk having infection spread to your blood stream & your parents will find out then, as u become really ill.

[Rynn]

Just wanna be honest though, because it's terrifying if you are hit unprepared - check your state/country laws about patient confidentiality. Where I live in the USA they WOULD tell my parents. Also, there may be different age limits for medical things - like 13, and 18, and then another perhaps depending when you get different health care than your parents (like after uni). I just want you to be able to prepare yourself, I still think it should be checked out.

Of course, depending where it is, you may be able to get it checked out and still lie.

But - I also want to say getting counseling/therapy can be really helpful too. As scary as it is to tell, good things can come of it.

*hugs* it sounds like things are really scary for you right now.

[Animad]

You NEED to get this checked out. It sounds like a pretty bad infection. If that sets into your bloodstream it could literally mean you being in hospital in a coma fighting for your life and people on here have been in that situation (as I've had PMs saying "it's a good job you told me to go to hospital because..."). The earlier you go the better and as others have said, yes, it is your choice to SI, even if it feels like it's not at the time, so you have to look at the consequences of your actions which is hard especially if you're young but still, that's life. Really the best thing would be to tell the truth to everyone and get treatment you need but if you really can't do that then you could try lying as to how you got the cut but that really isn't the best idea but whatever way you look at this I REALLY think you need to get this checked out. It is past the point of ANYTHING you can do at home be able to sort it out. I've got some wounds at the moment that I know full well may get infected. They occurred when I was working. Now I had access there to the drugs I need (though it would be illegal for me to have got them) but I'm watching how it goes and the only reason I've not been to the doctor yet to get precautionary antibiotics is because I happen to have an appointment with my doctor on tues anyway.

This really does need to be looked at.