http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...b.231997506979134&type=2&theater

Wonder how often that happens?

I'm not a squeamish person, but that was disgusting!

Having lanced many an abscess on bovine critters, them things just don't smell very good. Can't think this was any better.

yuck...

Had a fellow cop get one on his upper arm. It got infected... His skull and Harley tattoo ended up looking like a 3 year old with finger paint had slapped his arm after it healed. Kinda melted.

Never knew what he did to fix it.

Yuck is right.

looks like the person lost 20lbs just in pus.

First, why in the hell do people waste money on that crap when there are firearms and vehicles to purchase and tweak?
Second, is he dumb or numb to let something like that go that long?

Nasty!

I've cut into stuff like that when I worked at Iowa Beef. The stink is unforgettable!

That one is life threatening. Really bad.

That's a HUGE abscess! I've never drained one that big in my career. To tell the truth, incision & drainage of abscesses is one of the most fun things I get to do in ER. Yeah, I'm a sick bastidge, but I'm a HAPPY sick bastidge!!

The doc in this video made a very large incision, which tells me that this abscess was probably in excess of 500 mL in volume, possibly close to a liter. The abscess will have to be packed and repacked to keep it from closing and reinfecting. Assuming this is a healthy person, s/he will be going back to the clinic for a repack every 2-3 days for 2-3 months. Not a happy camper, I'm sure.

In my experience, only about 10-15% of abscesses grow the kind of bugs that make a lot of stink (E. coli, Bacteroides, and other anaerobes). Most of them are caused by aerobic skin bacteria such as Staphylococcus, and are odorless.But the ones that DO stink are horrible. And like Forrest Gump would say, until you cut into the thing, you never know what you're gonna get...

I've seen a LOT of infected tattoos, although almost all are simple cellulitis (infection of the skin and immediate subcutaneous fat) that clear up with antibiotics. Very few develop into abscesses.

The big risk now with tats is that we're seeing a lot more tattoo infections from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). MRSA is not only hard to kill with conventional antibiotics, it can permanently colonize the skin, nostrils, etc, and may reappear as a life-threatening infection later. MRSA is a huge threat to critically ill people in hospitals and nursing homes.

MRSA

BTDT

Ain't fun.

thats why it matters where and who you get them from.....my work has been done by a buddy who tends to be an obsessive neat freak and not some dingy back alley shop.....will say out of all the nasty chit ive waded into with cuts on my legs the only couple of cuts ive had that have gotten a real infection were from things around my house .....cleaning out the damp A-coil on my central air lead to a nasty infection that took a bit to kill....course i also wouldnt let chit get to the level of that video before i head to the doc but so far ive not had anything i havent been able to kill off myself with diligent care....

but real!

Give a guy a warning would ya!

So DocRocket,

Why did the doc in the video press down on the abscess, soaking it up with gauze or paper, instead of using a vacuum like device?

I imagine a vacuum device would keep everything from running all over the place, and (if it stank) keep the smell down.

World class I & D there. When ya drain em folks love you. Instant success.

OT,

I did a canine space I&D yesterday, but it was nothing. The one in that video is unreal.

Impossible to get up to that volume in a mouth, but it IS right where people live.

;-{>8

Hey, I thought you were still Red Striping it.

Never had that...but did have a softball size abscess adjacent to my poop chute up inside about 6 inches. The pain was unlike anything I ever experienced before. I tried to tough it out but finally could not stand, sit, lay, sh�t, piss, breathe, or anything else without pain that dropped me to my knees...yeah, waited too long as I thought it would subside. Went to express care affiliated with local hospital...wouldn't touch me...sent me to main ER. CT scan and off to emergency surgery...dope wasn't even touching the pain by this point. Doc promised when I wake up that it will be night and day with the pain. SOB was correct! I woke up with zero pain, mucho pain meds and antibiotics and a drain tube stitched about 1.5 inches to the side of puckered brown eye. 10-14 days of wearing that near my ass but man what a relief! It continued to drain for some while during the time the tube was in. Did not hurt when extracted and it had a perforated bulb on the interior end to keep pocket from closing in on itself.

Never want that again. No clue how and no advice on how to avoid...just happens he said. The dude took more than half a liter of stuff out...I have broken bones, been stitched, concussed, dislocated, etc, etc...but this was the top dawg on the pain scale. He did say it was lucky it hadn't ruptured as that can be a true life threatening emergency.

Sonofabitch!

If you go on Youtube, there are some pretty amazing videos of sebaceous cysts being popped and lanced, both at home and by doctors. Yes, I know this was an abscess and not a cyst, but this thread seemed like the place to mention it.

Some of the cysts on Youtube look like someone is carrying around a basketball on his back.

There was some documentary on primitive medicine men and women or something many years ago. One scene showed an old woman draining an abscess on a man's back. She cut a short incision with a knife, then used a bamboo straw to squirt water from her mouth into the wound. Then she sucked it out by mouth and spat out the viscous result onto a flat rock. Had to rinse and repeat about two or three times if I recall.

I'm not all that squeamish but I damn near threw up watching that one...

Stuff's usually too thick for the suction to work well. Also, abscesses are often loculated (multiple compartments), so pressing down helps get these loculations opened and expresses all the junk.

Damm.... And to think that some women get squeamish over giving a BJ...

That's interesting, I have drained several in my time overseas. The first one I assisted someone in draining was very putrid, however the next 10 or so that I drained didn't smell much at all, I always wondered why that was the case.

I have never seen one that large, and never would have thought one would get that big in the developed world.

I was cool until he stuck his finger so deep in!!!!! Man that was super nasty!

Oh but they are so sexy on hot chicks LOL

tag

Can't speak to whether or not my "occurrence" had an odor. I just remember the pain and the relief upon awakening.

By the way Jack, and curious minds want to know, what did you have tattooed up there? ;-{>8

"Exit only" or "No entrance" perhaps?

John

I hope. ;-{>8

Maybe an exit arrow.

Don't get me wrong I love good ink and have tattoos myself, that stuff though wow!

Sadly, fun and games are over.

That stuff is so gross!

We had a guy in PLDC when I was in the Army who developed a huge knot on his back, had one fo the medics look at it who proceeded to pull a syringe out and lance it before I could run out of the barracks and it popped and oozed about a golfball size wad of stuff that literally stunk the barracks up I can almost puke thinking about it 20 some years later.

Mike

Must have gotten that tat in Olongapo.

Glad I read through this thread before I clicked on the link. I'm not going to, now.

Damn, I thought that thing was totally fake. I guess not. How in the world is that possible? Man, that was way beyond nasty!

what no pix?

Abscesses that aren't treated and tunnel are a bitch. I've seen em the size of a half dollar on the skin that made tunnels 4" wide and 3' long right up the spine. Like an iceberg in the water most abscess are several times larger under the surface

Rubber gloves aren't necessarily used to protect the PATIENT.

Years ago, we had a horse with an abscess on it's shoulder. The vet was looking at it and said he thought it had a solid core. He pushed on it a little to see how solid it was and the core flew out...right into his open mouth. He turned an amazing shade of green.

yech Rock Chuck, brrrr honeycomb, spit, spit, spit, rinse and spit a whole bunch more


I'm just curious about the video

was that lawyer Bob laying on the table there?


I know he lost on the SB, and owes some bookies, but that is ridiculous!