Infection from my tank

[SDguy]

Yup, that's right...think it can't/won't happen to you? So did I....

Was removing some live rock, some zoas, and a RBTA from a FOWLR display. No gloves. Some hangnail type cuts on my right thumb. No biggie, everything went smooth. Nothing memorable happened (ie pricks, cuts, etc.) Last night my thumb starts hurting/throbbing while I'm trying to fall asleep. I don' think too much of it. Take some aspirin. Fall asleep.

This morning, I oversleep, and am running late, so don't pay much attention to my thumb. Once at work, I try to write. Ouch! Huh....thumb looks a bit red, and swollen. And it is hot to the touch. Well, now I'm a bit worried, so I call and make a doctor appointment for 4pm, thinking it'll either be getting better by then, and I won't need to go, or it'll be just about time to really need to go. By the time I'm at the doctor, the thumb is FAT and red, with a hot red band running all along the top of the thumb, towards the wrist.

The doctor says it's an infection. I say "Really, that fast?" He says "Yup, just a couple days away from those red stripes running up your arm"..... that I sarcastically joked about 2 minutes earlier.

So........guess I'm wearing gloves from now on

[kraze3]

That sucks but glad you got it taken care of. I always say next time im going to wear gloves, but then i figure Im just gonna move that rock or move that frag, or clean my glass, and I never do. I really need to get out and invest in some. Hope your thumb feels better.

[bradleyj]

That's always on my mind when I'm doing maintenance on mine. I've had a couple of friends end up in the hospital after moving some pally's . Very toxic, especially if you have a fresh cut. Did he put you on some kind of anibiotics?

[GSMguy]

Damn peter, my girlfriend is always giving me grief for not getting gloves, guess she is right,,,,AGAIN....

[john rochon]

yup, I've got some kinda skin condition on my left hand that comes and goes. splits and peals and bleeds. doctors can't figure it out. my left hand is usually the one I have in the tank most of the time. strange indeed.

[TomRep]

Does anyone know of any latex gloves (like doctors/nurses/or in my case mechanics wear) that are full length? I know they'd be a pain to put on over your arm, but due to me having almost no feeling in my fingertips, I need thin, tight fitting gloves. if anyone knows of any, please PM me or post a link on here.
sorry to hear about your troubles, but glad your okay and under treatment now!
tom

[maxheadroom]

That happened to me 2 weeks ago. I was helping a friend move his 150 and got pricked by something in the LR. Within 2 days there was a red sripe going past my wrist and about 2 inches past my watch. I took some benedryl and the stripe was gone by the next morning.

[SDguy]

Originally posted by maxheadroom
That happened to me 2 weeks ago. I was helping a friend move his 150 and got pricked by something in the LR. Within 2 days there was a red sripe going past my wrist and about 2 inches past my watch. I took some benedryl and the stripe was gone by the next morning.

? Not sure why an allergy/inflamation would throw a stripe down your hand..

My thumb is swollen pretty good today. The creepiest part is hot hot the red part is

The doctor prescribed sulfamethoxazole 2 x day for 7 days. I have to go back thrusday, and he said don't be surprised if "we have to drain it"

[Rich D]

hows this?
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...fm?pcatid=8162
ive been seeing quite a few reef related infection problems lately... I should probably get some gloves myself

[melev]

Peter, glad you got it checked out and that it is being treated. Get well soon.

[maxheadroom]

here's how mine looks after 2 weeks:

[SDguy]

Eeek. Glad it got better on its own!

[Jerm77]

I bought these gloves made by coralife. in retrospect i would have purchased the Tunze gloves. I think the coralife gloves are too thick for handling frags.


Coralife gloves

I think these are a bit thinner

Tunze gloves

[Sugar Magnolia]

Wow, that's scary. Glad you got it looked at right away. Feel better!

[Kieth71]

I had the coralife gloves but they are a bit to thick so i bought these gloves from fosters and smith that are supposed to be for working in ponds and they are thinner and easier to work with.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...m?pcatid=15871

I bought the large ones and i have largish hands so while they are a bit tight it makes it seem less clumsy when they are on and easier to grab stuff.They are on sale as well

[surge19us]

Those Tunze gloves are a waste. I had them they are the thickness of a cheap garbage bag. Anytime you grab a rock it punctures the gloves and maybe your hand and the glove fills with water and becomes awkward to work with. I have looked at Tractor Supply and some other farm stores that sell full arm gloves for working with livestock that are probably more durable and protective. Check out these. Cheaper too. http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/...&ip_perPage=20

[tank o tang]

Still not a believer in gloves. I don't remember ever wearing a rubber suit while at the beach or while claming off the shore.

[melev]

One TOTM winner wears black gloves, the kind tattoo artists wear. It keeps his fingers covered, avoids releasing oils into his reef, and he even looks a little bit cool, for a fish nerd.

[Kieth71]

An ocean is not the same as a closed marine system so compairing them and stating you dont wear a rubber suit in the ocean is not very helpful.

[melev]

And how often does a person visit the beach and encounter the animals we keep? I've never seen a wild zoanthid colony, for example. But I do know to not touch any washed up jellyfish on the beach.

[SDguy]

Originally posted by tank o tang
Still not a believer in gloves.

That's OK. If you're a "it has to happen to me" kind of person, then that's your choice

[uofimed08]

Sorry about your infection. The fact is that the chances of getting an infection are probably very small. How many times does each of us put our hands in our tanks without gloves and how many times does one of us get an infection? The fact is that in a saltwater tank or not there is bacteria all around us and we dont get infections. I feel that if you are not immune compromised the chances of an infection are slim. That being said, I almost never stick my hand in my tank without basic "rubber" gloves, more for my tanks inhabitants than for myself. Take that for what its worth.

[JJ21]

if the doc has to drain it be sure to video tape it!!!!








some of us people are into those kinds of things

[Gdevine]

Originally posted by uofimed08
Sorry about your infection. The fact is that the chances of getting an infection are probably very small. How many times does each of us put our hands in our tanks without gloves and how many times does one of us get an infection? The fact is that in a saltwater tank or not there is bacteria all around us and we dont get infections. I feel that if you are not immune compromised the chances of an infection are slim. That being said, I almost never stick my hand in my tank without basic "rubber" gloves, more for my tanks inhabitants than for myself. Take that for what its worth.

Wrong on the "small" part. A reef tank is teaming with "bacteria" many of which will cause an infection if the conditions are right. Hell, I live on a canal just off the intercoastal in south FLA and when I dock my boat and IF I grab the dock piling at low tied and nick my hand of finger the first thing I do after cleaning the boat is to put Neosporin on the nick for a few days. Same thing with the tank, if I even get the smallest nick I put Neo on it as there is more then a good chance of infection. Been there done that...

[SDguy]

Originally posted by uofimed08
I feel that if you are not immune compromised the chances of an infection are slim.

So now I have a compromised immune system for this to have happened?

Look, I simply posted this as a word to the wise. Wearing gloves is super easy, so why not do it. I don't need to prove that this can happen to anyone, any time they work in their tank. I've been keeping marine tanks for 20 years, and this is the first time it happened. So yeah, chances are slim. But nothing more is required other than bad luck....


....and poorly manicured hands