Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Hand swelled up this morning for no apparent reason....

Weedeating with a straight shaft...handle forward...weadeater makes my carpal tunnel and tendonitis really flare up.

The last weedeater I bought, (Stihl), I got the handle bar front and a good strap so I'm not holding the constant weight.

Still bothers me, but not NEAR as much...Next time, I'd try and rig it where you're not holding your arms in a fixed position while holding the weight. Try and disperse some of it to your shoulders maybe...just a thought.

My guess with your almost instantaneous itching and swelling, that it's either a bite of some kind or your hands worked up a good sweat and some kind of pollen that you might be allergic to got into your pores.

My step-son last year had something similar happen to his arm, but it was over a couple day's and turned out to be a serious super staff infection, that apparently entered his blood system through the hair follicles on his arm.

Doctors had him in the hospital for 3 day's on high dose antibiotics, and just barely kept it from getting into his bone marrow.

But his whole arm swelled up and turned blood red!

To this day, he doesn't know how he picked it up, there was no scratches, cuts, or breaks in the skin.


Phil

Is your step son okay? Has this happened again?

He's OK and it never happened again yet, but that kid for just being something like 43 years old sure picks up some strange diseases.

8 or 10 years ago, one side of his face was paralyzed for about 3 weeks, they have a name for what ever it was, but I can't remember what it was, couldn't hardly even talk.


Phil

Glad he's okay. They never stop giving you grey hairs do they!

DD, as always I've got [bleep] backwards and had to talk to the wife to get things straight.

It wasn't Chuck's arm, but rather his lower leg and knee where the swelling and blood infection took place, doctors called it Cellulitus, and the thing with his face was called Bell's Palsy... both had him really scared, and he spent a few day's in the hospital for both.

And the doctors don't know what caused either!


Phil

ZOMBIES for sure! Or did you get drunk and mock a rattlesnake?

I'm amazed that people grow that stuff intentionally.

Sounds like bee sting.

Benadryl, my friend, Benadryl.

Bells palsy

Bells palsy As a dr, i didn't know of normal people not liking okra. i mean, in germany they don't eat corn, nor blackeyed peas up north in places-but okra- must be a mental problem.

Boy, sounds like some serious stuff. Hope it doesn't come back.

+1 Keeping a couple in your wallet for any odd future occurrence isn't a bad idea either.

Last year my wife was at her mother's place where she ate a piece of old stale licorice. It must have had some mold or something in it because she about went viral. They got her to a quick care place where they loaded her up with hospital strength benadryl, not the over the counter stuff. It was strong enough that they had to keep her there for a couple hours to make sure she didn't react to it. It took care of the allergy reaction but it was kind of nasty for a while.

The itching is probably the key signal here. you are describing a fairly severe allergic reaction. It is not uncommon for an allergic reaction to show up in this manner.

Were it me, I would suspect the okra since people do have allergies to it commonly enough. I would be extremely careful of okra until I found out for certain, since the next exposure could cause a much worse reaction. I would suspect that the weed whacker caused enough very small particles of okra to become airborne and inhaled.

You can either go to an allergist and get tested for okra sensitivity, or try a simpler test with help and supervison at hand. If you want to try the simple test make sure you have benadryl and someone to get you to an emergency room at hand. the simple test would be to mush up some okra and smear it on the inside of your fore arm. A dime sized spot is more than enough, and let your helper handle it. If it was the okra, you'll know it quickly, it will swell and redden the area it was on. If you can feel it in your lips and tongue get in the car take the benadryl and go to the emergency room before you get worse. If you are allergic to okra this instance could be the warning that you are sensitized. The next exposure could very well trigger a much stronger response.

About ten years ago I used a small gas weedeater for a couple of hours. After I finished, the hand that held the shaft handle felt like it had gone to sleep from the constant vibration.

It didn't quit tingling for several days after. Sort of scared me. I started using a weedeater with a shoulder strap and handlebars and never had any more problems.

If this makes you nervous, you could also do a DIY test in the waiting room of the ER. It could save a frenzied drive.
Your best bet, though, is an allergist. He might find something more serious that you really want to know about.

I thought about advising him to go to the hospital before trying it. I don't like his odds explaining having a friend smear okra on his forearm should he be observed. He'd likely wind up medicated and strapped to a gurney, especially if he was the least bit incoherent. The the next thing you know there'd be thousands of druggies trying to get high on okra, he'd be famous on you tube, and if he didn't react the hospital would still likely charge him a few thousand dollars.

I shouldn't make fun. My wife was discharged from the local hospital with antibiotics. The next morning after taking her meds she tells me her mouth and tongue feel funny. I did a quick check on her and rushed her to the ER which fortunately is only 2 miles away. By the time I got her there she was in anaphylaxis. They had to do a cut down to get a vein that hadn't collapsed to get an IV into her, and she spent a day in ICU and a day on the ward before she was stable enough to go home. She had never shown a reaction to that antibiotic before (exposure came from eating meat raised on antibiotics).

It's a very serious matter if Deerwhacker is allergic to okra.