Last night I got stabbed twice in a row from a baby channel cat. He got me right between to pointy finger and the thumb. You know, that flap of skin. Although the intial pain was worse than a wasp bite, that is gone now. But, this morning my whole hand is swolen and hurts to the touch. I can barely type this. It hurts. Any home remedies. Should I go to the doctor. If so, what can he do besides giving me pain medication. Not that I won;t go to get pain medication, but I don't have alot of money.Let me know please!

Clean it up good and suck it up.

You should have rubbed the wound on a fishes belly after you got poked. That would have stopped the burning.

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Rubbing the catfish's belly on the wound will indeed help the pain, but from the sounds of it, you have a major puncture. I would venture to guess that the same puncture with a piece of metal or wood would have resulted in a very similar swelling of your hand. IMO, making the wound bleed as much as possible immediately after the puncture also helps. Then rub it with the belly of the catfish.

Keep a very close watch on it! If you see redness moving up your hand to the wrist, see a doctor immediately, because that's a sign of severe infection.

Soak your hand in epson's salt. That should help the swelling and keep any infections at bay. I feel for ya' man. Those little ones are dangerous.

BW

I would try Very Warm Water and Epson Salt. It probably wouldn't hurt to take over the counter medication for the pain.

There is a bacterial infection from the catfish in your hand. Rubbing the belly of a catfish only increases the number of germs that can infect the wound. Try a aspirin/ibuprofen combination to reduce the pain and swelling. A ice pack can help too. If the wound is still open, rinse it with hygrogen peroxide and cover with a
anti-bacterial ointment. If still swollen after 24 hours, consult a physician for additional treatment. Those little catfish have the sharpest fins. That's why I use those locking hemostats to remove the hook from their mouths.

Go get some copenhagen snuff, and put a little pinch of it on the wound. rub it with the snuff and it will help draw out the pain, and the swelling. It Worked for when i had a big ole fin stuck in the back of my leg.

Shame on you Curtis
Never, never, never waste copenhagen on a mere flesh wound

Sniffing snuff works even better. It is a bit more concentrated(nicotine) if I remember correctly. I keep a small tin in the house for bee/wasp/scorpion stings.

I only waste it if i have severe pain like in the calf where it hurts to walk, but it does work. I always have 2 cans on me when i go fishing, just in case the boat breaks down i'll still have my nicotine, while i 'm waiting for help. HEHE

~NEVER RUB CATFISH SLIME INTO A WOUND!~

This is very bad advise. I tried this once and my finger swelled up to twice its size with infection and hurt for three days. This was with one of those nasty old Hardheads.

You use meat tenderizer on hardhead finnings.

I never really thought of it that way before. Now when I go to the store to get snuff I can tell my wife I am just buying it for medicional reasons.

THANKS FELLAS!

This may not be proper (and my brother calls me a wussy for it) but I have been stabbed so many times that I finally resorted to using a wet towell to hold them with..

When I was in Galveston one year fishing out of the hotel window (we were in the hotel that's on the pier, I think it's called the Flagship Hotel?.......and yes about 2 in the morning security called and told me to stop) I was catching those little hardhead catfish and grabbed a towel and it worked great!

Also talk about bending a pole! Try reeling a fish up two stories thru your room window!

[This message has been edited by Shifty (edited 07-26-2003).]