Gafftop Wound

Had a Gafftop stick it fin-spike in one side of my pinky at the top and it came out the opposite side at the bottom and now some sort of thread is coming out of the wound and hurts to pull. Anyone ever dealt with or seen this?

Emergency room asap.

Those things hurt. Got stuck by one a few years back and it swelled up and burned for a couple of days..

When u get get stuck if not real bad ur supposed to rub the puncture on their belly hard heads too, something to do with belly slime in ur case maybe a trip to the er might be better /...Bill

pee on it

meat tenderiser

Likely it pulled a tendon out when it punched thru - you are pulling on a piece of your tendon --

WH2004: Spent 15 hrs there last night only to end up with an appt to see hand surgeon next Thurs.

Glad you got it checked. Vibrio is bad stuff.

Everybody that fishes in saltwater needs to be familiar with Vibrio Virus. If you aren't, then look it up.

Prepare a first aid kit for your saltwater excursions. It should include bleach and hydrogen peroxide to wash out any cuts or wounds sustained by fish spines.

If you are diabetic or have a disease that causes a depressed immune system this is of vital importance.

Vibrio is a saltwater borne flesh eating virus. Any open wound exposed to it will soon become infected and spread quickly. It can lead to the loss of body parts and death. It's responsible for the deaths of people on the Texas Coast every year.

Once exposed you must act quickly to prevent it from spreading. Know the signs and take precautions before you go fishing.

Mike gives good advice. I carry a large bottle of peroxide and soak down after a wade. Once the water hits 80, it's standard procedure.

Yea those gaftop are nothing to mess with. A old man I use to fish with as a kid, stepped on one. He ignored it and lost half his foot. Its funny that now days people worry about exposing wounds to salt water. I too treat any cuts with peroxide before I leave the dock. When I was a kid and had a cut, grandma would tell me to go soak it in the gulf. After I got back she would put monkey blood (iodine) on it. I swear though that salt water did make the cuts heal faster.

LP, I've used hydrogen peroxide for open wounds, but was under the impression that bleach was dangerous - do you apply undiluted bleach to an open wound, or do you dilute it first?

yes
i always was healed after being in The Gulf, so it isn't standard practice now?

Heck yeah, I wash down with undiluted bleach. That stuff kills anything. I do treat open wounds with peroxide though and not bleach.

All fish in the salt will have various bacteria living in their slime and any of them can cause painful infections. The sooner it's treated the better chance you stand of avoiding problems.

My neighbor got hit with that. He is better now but it was a rough go for a while. Thanks for the tip on the first aid kit.

Its better to know its not something serious, rather than to not know its something serious.

That virus is why I don't wade fish anymore.

Chicken!

Thanks for all the replies, I will definitely add bleach to my first aid kit. It's been over a month since it happened and the tip of the finger is still dead numb.

Did you ever go see the hand surgeon??

I had one hit me right in the joint of my finger Easter weekend. Thrashing around and finally broke off in there. This was a side fin though. I didn't get to a doctor until the next morning about 12 hours later and it was swelled up huge and super hot, I was in a very isolated area. They just put me on antibiotics and said let them know if it got any worse. Feels like ligament damage or a piece of bone in there still. Not quite sure what to do about that since I don't have $10,000 or insurance. I can move it pretty good now. Anything can happen in a split second. Just luck of the draw I guess. Peroxide, bleach and alcohol can make a difference.

Hydrogen Peroxide is not a good product to use on open wounds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_peroxide

"It is a common misconception that hydrogen peroxide is a disinfectant or antiseptic for treating wounds.While it is an effective cleaning agent, hydrogen peroxide is not an effective agent for reducing bacterial infection of wounds. Further, hydrogen peroxide applied to wounds can impede healing and lead to scarring because it destroys newly formed skin cells."

It's hard to believe, but the most effective way to disinfect a wound on the water is good old fashioned soap and water scrubbing. The problem with pucture wounds like catfish and stingray barbs is the hole closes almost immediately and all the bacteria and contamination can stay in the wound regardless what you do.

Watch puncture wounds really close for signs of infection.

@fritz

as my stepfather (a doctor) taught me, "the solution to pollution is dilution"

hydrogen peroxide (h2o2). is a terrible thing to put on an open wound. scrub with soap and water!