8/18/2014:
I noticed this…uh…thing appearing on my leg, maybe a week ago. Left leg, front shin area, a few inches above my ankle.  Kind of hard for me to really get a good look at it without a photo due to the location.   My lovely wife has already decided it is a botfly.  I figured it was a mosquito bite that I scratched or something, but it kept getting worse and larger.

It doesn't hurt, but I can feel it, and there's a very slight itching sensation.  The immediate area around it is slightly swollen, with the center area slightly depressed.

It looks like it is getting worse as the days go on, so I think I'm going to head to an urgent care today and see if they can figure it out.

I don't recall getting stung or bit by anything, or having any other kind of injury to this area on my leg. I don't drink or do drugs, and yes, I shower every day.

So arfcom, are they going to cut off my leg?

---------------------------------------

8/18/2014 Urgent Care update:
Note: Currently on vacation with in-laws so I'm out of town.  I went to the local urgent care, and they mostly agreed with NavyDoc. Looks like some sort of bite, with a little necrotic tissue in the center. He put me on Bactroban ointment 3x/day and Cleocin oral antibiotic, 4x/day, 150mg . Hopefully this takes care of it. If not, he recommended I go see a dermatologist.

---------------------------------------

8/24/2014 update:
Area continues to get larger, still no pain.  No itching sensation.  I've faithfully taken the antibiotic and put the ointment on my leg.  Calling local dermatologist tomorrow morning, first thing (unless a doc on here says "Go straight to the ER, right now").


-----------------------------------------

8/25-26/2014 update
2 updates:

1: After speaking with a few docs on here and on another forum, I've decided to not go to a dermatologist unless it continues to expand despite good wound care. The consensus from multiple docs so far is that it is not MRSA and likely just some kind of bug bite that will eventually heal. The idea of a foreign object like a thorn being embedded in my skin has also been mentioned several times as well…but at this point there's likely no way we'll ever know.

2: After wearing a band-aid over it for several hours yesterday evening, it is starting to look better. Just a small change, nothing huge. It looks less "angry" if that makes any sense. I was recommended to keep it moist and covered with the mupriocin ointment, to give the epithelial cells trying to come in from the sides to heal the wound a good environment in which to prosper.

It now appears much less swollen than before.


---------------------------------------------------------

9/21/2014:
Scab was accidentally ripped off today while toweling off after a shower.  Area under it had a little mushy goo.  Cleaned it all off and out, applied Hibiclens, dried it, put on some Mupriocin, covered with bandage.


---------------------------------------------------------

9/25/2014:
Just got back from the dermatologist.

He listened to my story (no apparent injury or reason for wound, timeline, looked at photos, discussed prior dermatologic history), and he believes it is Ecthyma (second info link here).  Basically: a deep skin infection caused by strep or staph.

He's got me on doxycycline for a month, combined with keeping it covered with mupriocin ointment, and putting a bandage over it to help protect it.  He also wants me to follow-up in a month to see how it is going.  If it hasn't been healing very well, he'll biopsy the area.

Unfortunately he said that this sort of thing is more common in people like me who have eczema, since we have lost part of our skin's natural protective barrier.  Which would make sense in this case, because this occurred in an area where I had some eczema awhile back (although it seems to be gone away).

The doctor also liked all the photos I've been taking and requested I keep taking them to watch the progression.

As to this being a spider bite: he said that only a brown recluse would do something like this, but they just aren't in this area of NC unless I went to the western NC mountains, TN, or northern AL regions and just happened to bring one back with me.

He also mentioned that it was good that the scab (he had a technical term for it but I can't remember ) came off.



I'll keep you guys and gals updated.


----------------------------------------------------------------

10/30/2014: Update after ~1-month on meds:

Infection site appears to be ~95% healed.  After my 1-month checkup visit with the dermatologist, he said he was happy to see it was healing well.  The white areas are apparently where the epithelial cells are still coming in to finish the healing process.  He also said that I could leave it uncovered, and suggested I keep the mupirocin on it until it completely finishes healing.  30-day run of Doxycycline is over.  Looks like I'll have a scar for at least several years, if not permanently, but that's better than losing my leg.  I won't bore you with the "healing" photos, but I have posted a photo I just took of the "after".



==================================



First photo was taken on 8/15, second photo on 8/18, third photo on 8/24, fourth photo on 8/26.  Right-click "view image" to see higher-res version.


8/15/2014




8/18/2014




8/24/2014





8/26/2015 -- NOTE: LESION APPEARS MUCH LARGER IN THIS PHOTO THAN THE ONE 2 DAYS AGO DUE TO THE DIFFERENCE WITH HOW CLOSE THE CAMERA WAS WHEN TAKING THE PHOTO






8/27/2014:






09/02/2014:






09/08/2014: photo taken right after applying a coating of mupriocin (generic Bactroban)






09/21/2014:





09/21/2014: After scab was ripped off while toweling off after a shower






10/30/2014: After 1 month of keeping it slathered with mupirocin and 30 days of doxycycline.

Go see a doc.
With no scale in the pic it appears to be getting larger and that is NOT a good sign.

A 'Doc in a box' should be adequate, though they may send you to an ER.

Meth bump. If you quit picking at it it will go away

Dibs on guns & ammo.  Go see the doc.

Ingrown hair scar

Squeeze it.

+1

 

I did a few days ago. Nothing.

The rest of you missed the part about how I don't do drugs.

When was your last tetanus shot?

Have you been cleaning the house/garage, yardwork or doing housework?  Moving furniture, for instance?

Looks like it's moving towards getting infected. See a doc.

looks to me like you got nailed by a nasty spider

No idea. I'm sure it's been awhile.

Yeah I'm always working on something around the house. Don't remember getting hurt or scratched by anything though.

I had a friend who once got the same exact thing...

3 days later...









Dead

You're still in the denial stage.

Well you're screwed now so might as well start.

Go the doc, get a tetanus booster, buy some beer and inform the wife the sad news that you can't do anything around the house anymore as it is too dangerous.

She is going to be upset, but in time she will accept that your health trumps home repairs.

Dabeetus!

Note to self: don't look up "tetanus infection" on Google Images.

What are MRSA Symptoms?

Often, people first think the area is a spider bite; however, unless a spider is actually seen, the irritation is likely not a spider bite. Most staph skin infections, including MRSA, appear as a bump or infected area on the skin that might be:
• Red
•Swollen
• Painful
•Warm to the touch
•Full of pus or other drainage
• Accompanied by a fever

or.................

It looks exactly like a tick bite I had.












 

I just got over one like that. It is a bacterial infection very close to MRSA. Get your ass to the doctor now! They will give you two options, one is taking antibiotic pills to see if it will clear up, or two: numb the area, open it up with a scapel, and then digging deep to clean the infection from the tissue. They will rinse with a saline solution, pack it with gauze and you will go back to the doctor in two days to have the gauze removed. The wound will be left open to drain but you will use a nonstick pad, then a wad gauze to soak up the draining, covered with a waterproof, leakproof covering. It took my infection 7 weeks to completely heal.

Send me a PM with your email if you'd like to see a photo while I'm on the table. I can't post a photo worth a crap here.

Damn you

MRSA

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Plague.

Alabama vampire bite.  That's why there's only one tooth puncture.

It doesn't have to take much.

Brown Recluse, you don't see them in NC because they are reclusive, duh.

Dibs on wife, if wife can be dibbed.

I was originally thinking MRSA as well but I figured MRSA would hurt.

You got the HIV, sorry

Also I have no other symptoms of anything that I can think of.

Ya, looks like you are on the road to infection.

Out of curiosity do you have a metal bed stand?  I have gotten similar wounds from moving beds around.

Isn't that what all meth addicts say

Go see a doc. Looks very infected and getting worse.

Bite from the AIDS spider. Burn down house, send me all firearm related things. You're not gonna need them where you're going....

That's not MRSA

It would

A lot

It would also be a giant zit

...yet.

Looks like a Chancre, not to be confused with Canker, sore.  Guess "she" wasn't as clean as "she" told you "she" was.

Dibs on ammo!

Nonhealing wound, the source could have been an insect bite or a nick while working or diving. The red area around the wound indicates cellulitis (infection) and it looks larger than the other. I'd go see a doc, he'll start you on some oral Keflex probably as an initial course.

Wood bed frame.


And yes I'm heading to a doc today. Just wanted to see what you guys think first. GD is always good for a few laughs.

OP gots bedbugs

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

This is GD, we don't have time for well thought out and professional opinions.  It is obviously drug induced Ebola, time to cut his penis off.

A real answer. What're you doing in GD?

Seriously though, thanks. I'll be at an urgent care in 2-3 hours.

Sad to say, I haven't been diving in awhile. My last planned trip got blown out by the hurricane a few weeks back.

Saw a similar deal on the news.



I think they called it....



Ebola.

Oh, and I'm not diabetic.

Ebola

Have you ever been to Africa?

Now that Navydoc has ruined the fun we request OP tell us about any pretty nurses he runs into at the ER/Urgent Care.

Whiskey Dent ?

Nope.

A buddy of mine got Hand, Foot, and Mouth from his infant last week and said he had something very similar.  His is still healing, in fact.

I was pretty sick last week, seemed to be something passed around my family (normal "common cold" symptoms). I don't think it was Hand, Foot, and Mouth, though.

?! Is that the "bullseye" people say to look out for from tick bites? Did you ever get checked out for Lyme's?

OP yours definitely looks like you need to get it checked out. MRSA is nothing to mess around with.