Lingering pain from deep cut

vickeym

I cut myself about a month ago while sharpening knives to butcher a hog. Back of first knuckle, left hand. It was pretty deep. I could see the tendons and such.

Happened on a Sunday and we are over an hour from nearest emergency room or Doc in a box (also called emergency clinic) Our little local clinic was not open.

Super glued the cut shut after using cayenne to stop the bleeding, then cleaning it well. Went on with butchering for the day though did double glove to protect it.

Went in on Monday to our clinic. They cleaned it again checked for any damage inside, full range of motion, no loss of use or strength except from pain under pressure. They poked around inside to see how deep it was, which is when it actually started hurting.

They put a couple steri strips on it and sent me home. Would not close with steri strips which did not stay on very well. Used band aides for several days which held it shut better and stayed on better. But it kept opening back up as I used the hand and the joint would bend.

Super glued it shut again and it started closing finally. It has now been over 4 weeks, cut is almost completely healed but still has a lump on each side of cut, I am assuming scar tissue. And sometimes throbs for a minute or two and is pain full to put pressure on it from the side like when I pick up a gallon jug or something. No infection and never has been.

Is there anything I can use herbally for this if it continues?

LaurieLovesLearning

@vickeym How horrible to have to deal with this. I have had the problem of something hurting until doctors poked around with it as well. 😞

It is good to hear that there is no infection. I have heard that there are things to help reduce scarring. Massage can help. I know with horse/animal wounds, we have used Fiskes on them to reduce risk of infection, keep the area moist, and prevent build up of debilitating scar tissue. "Proud flesh" is not something you want on a horse. I have no idea if it would help resolve/dissolve already formed scars. Its active ingredients are 4 essential oils. I believe ingredients are listed on their website, which is fiskes.ca. It might be a good idea to keep some of this on hand for emergency use. We always do.

I think @torey or @judsoncarroll4 may have some other ideas.

Torey

@vickeym Calendula is antibacterial and is well known for its ability to prevent scar tissue.

St. John's Wort helps with nerve damage and pain from injuries to the extremities.

I think it would be very beneficial if you could make up a combination of these two oils.

Were you ever able to get a Homeopathic kit? I have placed an order for more and if you can't purchase them because of delivery issues to Alaska, I can ship one to you, if you would like. I have ordered a pet kit as well in this latest shipment.

judsoncarroll4

I have done similar, deep cuts down to the tendons and bones... got a good 6 inch scar on my left arm from one of those. Deep cuts really ache for a long time, even after healing over. The tissue deep down takes time to heal and may even bleed under the skin. I agree with Torey on Saint John's Wort - it is really excellent. Bugleweed (ajuga reptens) can be very good for deep wounds.

SuperC

@vickeym Not sure of any herbs except for raw honey. Place raw honey all over the wounded area including a 1/4” more and then place a piece of gauze on top of it followed by first aid tape to secure it. Usually there is little to no scaring. Raw honey is a salve. Change gauze and raw honey daily or every couple of days.

vickeym

LaurieLovesLearning Thank you for sharing about the Fiskes. I went to the fiskes.ca website. There was no way to purchase directly from them. I did check out several sites they showed as carrying their products. Looks like to get it shipped here will cost between. $26 and $36 dollars. Not sure at this point if that is US dollars or Canadian. Will have to do some more research and see if I can find another supplier.

torey I do have both calendula oil and st. john's wort oil. I did purchase the basic homeopathic kit. I took the Arnica right away. And took it once a day for a week. I also took Hypericum for the first few days for the pain. Though I had forgotten about that. After about a week I changed to calendula and one called staphisagria for about a week. Have not really taken anything since. Just used an antibiotic salve.

Unfortunately I have managed to hit that joint on something at least a couple times a day (or more) pretty much since it happened.

I really need to contact them and see what it would take to order some of the pellets in the larger sized bottle to the US. I tried the pellets in the Hyland's brand and really do not care for them. They are powdery, chalking tasting and generally unpleasant to my taste. The pellets from Helios are more more suited to my tastes. That and it takes fewer of them per dose.

judsoncarroll4 Good to know that the lingering pain is not something unusual. Not fun, but less concerning that it is something wrong knowing that it is common. Will look into the bugleweed for sure.

SuperC Thank you for the idea. Have seen Honey do some incredible things. However, I did not think of it back when the injury occurred. Now that the cut is almost completely closed, not sure how much it would help.

Thank you all for you advice. Will try using more of the remedies. Was thinking of maybe soaking in Epsom salt bath. But have not decided if that would be a good choice.

LaurieLovesLearning

@vickeym It is most likely in CAD. We've found ours at horse & farm supply stores. A high performance breeder & barrel racer here says it is a non-negotiable to have in her horse first aid kit. Do you know anyone in horse circles? They might have heard about where to get it.

If it helps to justify any cost, it takes very little when you use it (it is very runny) and it lasts forever. We generally buy the big container with a brush inside. We bought one for animals & one for our personal use. The kids think it smells like barbecue sauce...I disagree, but it isn't a bad smell.

Linda Bittle

Oh, I feel for you. Those injuries on and near joints do get re-injured all the time. But immobilizing it might not be the thing to do.

She's out of business now, but I used to get a Busted Joint Ointment from herbalist Rebecca Altman in California. It was heavy on the Solomon's Seal oil, and probably Comfry oil and some others. It saved my badly sprained wrist!

Scroll down for her bit on Solomon's Seal in this article about her home apothecary: https://wonderbotanica.com/newsletter-archive/home-apothecary

JennyT Upstate South Carolina

@vickeym I'm sorry to hear about your injury. But it's been insightful to hear what everyone's response has been to assist you.

A lot of good information, thanks to you all.

@Mary Linda Bittle, West Plains, Missouri I checked out the link, very informative and helpful, thank you. I've made several notes and have some new things to research.😊

vickeym

Mary Linda Bittle, West Plains, Missouri I did immobilize it at first, only at might. I tend to grip on the blanket while I sleep. I was using the hand so much I kept tearing the cut open. Didn't get it bleeding again just could not get it to start closing. I ended up putting a heavy layer of super glue over it and letting that hold the two sides together. Once it had healed most of the way I have only used a knuckle bandage and some healing salve.

The article in your link was quite interesting. Will be looking into a source for some of the herbs in it.

JennyT Upstate South Carolina Glad to know this unfortunate turn of events for me will be able to help others who end up with similar issues.