How to identify a hand infection?

Used almost permanently for all types of activities, such as typing on the PC, ironing, cooking or making the bed, hands and fingers They can be affected by various diseases and disorders.

In his opinion Merck Manualthe main disorders that affect this area of ​​the body are ganglia, deformations, disorders related to nerves or blood vessels, arthrosis and infections caused by bacteria or viruses.

THE infections They are easily detectable by their symptoms, which mostly result in pain, swelling, fever and difficulty moving the limb. Recognizing them is the first step to obtaining adequate treatment.

How to identify a hand infection?

If a person hurts their knuckles after hitting another person in the mouth, they are likely suffering from an infection associated with a human biteas explained by Merck Manual. THE animal bites They also cause hand infections, the medical publication adds.

In either case, these injuries are “potentially dangerous and can cause serious infections or severe tendon complications or infectious arthritis.”

Animal bites contain pathogens which can lead to aa infectious arthritiswhich will require drainage of the joint to remove synovial fluid or even a osteomyelitiswhose most common treatment is “surgery to remove the infected or dead parts of the bone and the subsequent administration of intravenous antibiotics”, describes the Mayo Clinic of the United States.

Very frequently, following an injury (a splinter or a needle prick), abscesses (bags of pus) They are usually superficial and cause intense pain, redness and warmth in the area. However, if they are deeper, they can extend to the bones between the wrist and fingers (metacarpals).

Using an x-ray, doctors detect the foreign body which, hidden under the skin, is the cause of the accumulation of pus. Then, they must proceed to sewer system of pus through an incision, treatment with antibiotics and the placement of a splint.

The herpes simplex virus, similar to the one that causes cold sores, also causes a painful, intense infection called herpetic whitlow. In this case the virus enters through a wound and its main symptom is precisely that the tip of the finger is swollen and causes pain. Small fluid-filled vesicles (vesicles) also appear on the fingers.

Generally, like other infections, herpetic whitlow goes away without treatment. But doctors usually prescribe topical medications (applied to the skin) which reduce the episode. There are also treatments based on the remedies adopted orally (aciclovir) which can prevent new episodes.

A article published on the Medigraphic website, a magazine specializing in biomedicine, warns that in this case “surgical intervention is not necessary”. And he recommends placing”dry dressings to reduce the possibility of spreading the disease.”

Swelling, pain in a finger, fever and tenderness to the touch tendon sheath These are the main symptoms of an infection affecting that area. It manifests itself with the formation of abscesses around tendons of the so-called tendon sheath. A finger with a tendon sheath infection is swollen, red and painful on the side of the palm and the finger remains slightly bent and is very painful to extend.

The origin of these abscesses is a wound that penetrates the folds of the palmar surface of a finger. If the pus is not treated in time, the finger will appear swollen, red and slightly bent (it will barely be able to move), describes the port of Hand to shoulder clinic.

To remove the pus, the patient must be admitted to the hospital where he will receive intravenous and possibly antibiotics surgical drainage.