I broke down yesterday, and made an appointment to see the doctor. I cant even describe how much pain I was in, it was immense none the less. I would elevate my leg, which would make it feel much better, but once I lowered my foot the pain came shooting back, so bad, that I couldn’t even walk on that foot.
I Googled how to take care of wounds and burns, and I couldn’t find a single straight answer, I read that I should cover it, use Neosporin, use rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, saline washes, soap; and then of course I read in other places,that I shouldn’t do any of those. I tried all of them over the past 4 days, and none of them seemed to help, the pain just got worse, and my ankle and foot had gotten really swollen.
I sucked up my pride, and got into the doctor the same day. Of course, being in a small town, the nurse looked at me like I was nuts after I explained what I was doing, and looked even more shocked when I showed her my sorry excuse for an ankle. After a very long two hours of sitting in the doctors office waiting for second opinions on what to do, I was given a few prescriptions…and get to go back for another visit this Thursday.
$130.00 worth of prescription drugs later…
- Silver Sulfadiazine 1% (Topical Antibiotic for burns)
- Levaquin 500mg (Oral Antibiotic)
- Darvocet (Pain reliever)
The doctor covered by tattoo with silver sulfa and bandaged it, so I wasn’t able to get a picture of what my tattoo looked like right before using the prescription ointment, but I will keep on blogging the healing process. Just now, keep in mind for the next 7 days I’m on prescriptions. I will try to take pictures everyday, to see what kind of impact the prescriptions may have.
***One Day After Doctors Visit
(Silver Sulfa/Once a Day, Levaquin/Once a Day, Pain Relievers-As Needed)
The Nurse made it very clear that this is going to probably scar terribly. I am going to stay optimistic about it. Funny thing was she asked my if I knew how to post information on the Internet, she said that I really should warn people about the dangers of using Nuviderm…Ha. I am one step ahead of that!
I got to thinking, everyone I have talked to had a lot of trouble during their second application. I honestly haven’t talked to anyone that was on their third or so application, since they all stopped after their second application. I have a feeling that treating the same area twice or more times, is just too much trauma for the skin to handle. I don’t know if maybe waiting twice as long in between applications would help that or not.
On my previous post ‘L’ commented on using colloidal silver bandages; No one in town carries those here, but I think that is a great recommendation for anyone whose in the healing process. I would have to also agree, that 50% is way to strong. I used 46% this last time, and I’m really regretting that. I would definitely recommend using a lower strength…I would personally rather have to do many weak applications, than go through this mess again.
And to think the thought of *hmmm a facial peel might be nice* crossed my mind when I was researching TCA before I purchased nuviderm. I am SO glad that was just merely a thought…Can you imagine putting 12-30% strength on your face…It makes me cringe just thinking about it!
I almost forgot. What would this post be without a nasty bandage picture? My tattoo is still oozing.
***Bandage after day one of using Silver Sulfa. The discharge color is orange/brown.