hands | MY SPECIAL DOCTOR

Injury of the fingers and toes

12 March 20246 January 2024 by Redazione My Special Doctor

FRACTURE/LUXATION

For detect a fracture it is necessary for the patient to test the percussion, holding the fingers in full extension on a solid surface. Firmly strike the fingertips, and transfer the force along the diaphysis of the finger bones. If percussion results in additional pain one must suspect a fracture.

What do?

Immobilize the fingers through one of the following techniques:
Using a patch to join the finger to that adjacent, or put the hand and fingers in the “functional” position.
Place a dressing in the center of the hand bulky, secure it with a roll of bandage on a wooden board or a folded newspaper.
Take to hospital.

NAIL AVULSION

If a nail is partially broken or detached it is necessary to stabilize it with a adhesive bandage. If the nail has completely detached, it is important to apply an antibiotic ointment and protect with an adhesive bandage. It is absolutely not recommended to cut the detached nail.

SPLINTERS

If a splinter passes under a fingernail, interrupting blood flow, there is need to remove the stuck part with tweezers. If the splinter has embedded in the skin, a sterile needle is needed to extract it, up to when it cannot be removed with tweezers.

SUBUNGUAL HEMORRHAGE

After nail trauma the blood usually collects under the nail and causes intense pain. To relieve pain get the blood out of the nail.

What do?

Place finger in cold water or apply an ice pack.
Relieve pain by piercing the nail.
Apply a dressing to absorb the leaking blood and try to protect the injured nail.

REMOVAL OF A RING

It happens sometimes that the finger is very swollen and it is difficult to remove a ring. If the ring is not removed gangrene can develop within 4-5 hours. To prevent this from happening, use one of these methods:

Lubricate the finger with oil or butter.
Place the finger in cold water and wait for the edema to subside.
Massage the finger from the tip to the hand to let the edema reabsorb, lubricate the finger, and try to remove the ring.
If you cannot remove it, slide the end of a wire under the ring with a toothpick or matchstick. Wrap the thread around the finger starting at the ring going toward the tip. Continue to wrap evenly. This will push the edema toward the hand and slowly unwind the wire on the side of the ring toward the hand.
Cut off the narrowest part of the ring with a saw, protecting your hand.
Inflate a balloon and tie off the end. Press the victim’s swollen finger into the end of the ball so that the ball wraps around the finger evenly. This will return the finger to normal in about 15 minutes, and the ring can be simply removed.

Source: Mediserve‘s Pocket Guide to First Aid.

Poor hand hygiene may be the most common means of transmission of E. coli bacteria

11 February 20246 January 2024 by Renato Torlaschi

According to a British study, one of the best ways to reduce antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli infections would be the generalized habit of washing hands after using the bathroom. Infections produced by this bacterium-dangerous and potentially fatal-are commonly attributed to undercooked meat or raw vegetables, but when researchers did a genetic analysis of thousands of samples, they found that most E. coli infections in the United Kingdom were caused by a strain found in the human gut and sewage, but rarely found in food.

The authors of the study published in Lancet Infectious Diseases infer that the infection is spread primarily by human fecal particles transmitted from person to person. David M. Livermore, the University of East Anglia medical microbiologist who coordinated the study, calls E. coli a “Jekyll and Hyde organism”: in fact, the bacterium lives normally in the intestines of humans and animals without producing any harm, but some strains can be very dangerous and can be responsible for food poisoning and bloodstream infections. Until recently, these conditions were easily treated with antibiotic prophylaxis, but for the past 15 years or so, Escherichia coli has become more resistant to antibiotics and much more difficult to treat, effectively turning into “superbugs”, one of those deadly bacteria that, in Italy alone, causes more than 10,000 deaths a year.

To learn more about the spread of E. coli and thus infer its mode of transmission, british researchers performed genome sequencing on samples collected in 2013 and 2014 from humans, animals and sewage in five areas: London, East Anglia, Northwest England, Scotland, and Wales.

DNA sequencing showed an abundance of antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains in wastewater and retail chicken meat, rarely on other meats and never on plant-based foods. In addition, samples of a particular resistant strain, called ST131, collected from human blood, feces, and sewage combined: ” the problem we encountered – Livermore deduced from this – is the circulation of resistant E. coli adapted to the human organism and not infections derived from the food chain“.

As some infectiologists have pointed out, it is obviously important to practice good food safety practices, but the study suggests that good hand hygiene to prevent transmission is by far the most effective measure. Attention to hygiene is particularly relevant in homes for the elderly, as most serious E. coli urinary tract infections occur in those settings.

Source: Day MJ, Hopkins KL et al. Extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli in human-derived and foodchain-derived samples from England, Wales, and Scotland: an epidemiological surveillance and typing study. Lancet Infect Dis. 2019 Oct 22.

Coronavirus: how and when to wash hands

7 February 20246 January 2024 by Redazione My Special Doctor

Washing hands appears to be a simple thing, but during the Coronavirus outbreak when it is more important than ever, most people still do not do it properly.

What is that tingling in the hands and feet?

7 February 20246 January 2024 by Redazione My Special Doctor

If we experience numbness in our hands or feet or a feeling like having thorns, then it may be that some medicine or any of the following are the cause.