Infection - blackened skin under scratch (infected?)

Ashleygray · 26-04-2008, 12:28 PM

I got a small but deep scratch on the skin near my knuckle at the gym.
It looks like a big chunk of skin had been scooped out and replaced with a yellowy/browm scab.

Also, all the skin within a 1cm diameter of the graze has turned a kind of black colour.

Is it infected?

I feel kind of stupid because:
1) i dont even know how it happened. I just looked down and it was there.
2) It's so small. the actual scab is like 1/2cm diameter...

thankyou

l'il esky · 26-04-2008, 01:38 PM

hey,
did you clean it after? kept it dressed? possibly the black bit is dirt??
usually with infection the signs you are looking for is: red, hot, imflammed and painful
hope this a helps :) xx

Animad · 26-04-2008, 05:03 PM

How long ago is it since you did it? Did you clean it after? Have you kept a dressing on it? Is it painful/hot/swollen/any discharge? Is the black bit sort of around the edges or the whole area? And did it bleed?

Ashleygray · 27-04-2008, 08:31 AM

It happened 3 days ago and it only bled a little bit so i didn't cover it up and i only washed it under tap water. It's very sore and slightly swollen. The black part is just around the edges.

Thanks so much for your help

Animad · 27-04-2008, 08:56 AM

The blackened bit it probably just bruising (had it been there the whole time?). Being on your knuckles it will take a bit longer for it to heal and it will be painful for longer because of the constant movement and pulling on the healing skin. It will be very hard to put/ hold on a dressing though some plasters that are waterproof with a very thin film to hold them on are really good as they stay on with movement. I know they stay on my fingers when I'm working and that is a sign of a very good plaster! Try and keep it as clean as possible and clean it as often as you can and apply anti-bacterial cream to it often to aid healing and prevent it from getting infected/help if it is.

At the moment, to me, it doesn't sound particulary infected but saying that it does depend when the skin around it turned Black and whether that is just bruising/ other processes so if you can let me know that it would be good!

So use anti-bacterial skin, if it worsens it may be worth going to see a doctor/nurse. If you show it to a pharmacist they should be able to help you find a dressing that will help because you obviously don't want you're whole hand bandaged up, though, so long as you're not working in a dirty environment and you keep it clean it should be fine without especially as it has a scab.