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1bookfish
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Trig Oct 20, 2019 at 12:31 AM
  #1
Hey everyone! Just a warning that this is going to go into VERY thorough detail because it's necessary for my question (at least I think it is). I'm basically asking how to treat my self harm cuts, since this recent relapse was different from my others so I'm not sure how to approach it. This is HIGHLY likely to be really triggering since I need to get into some detail, so please avoid reading if you think it'll trigger you, and if you get into reading it and end up feeling triggered, PLEASE STOP!!!!!!!!

So one thing lead to another (more like a lot of things built up and it was on my mind for a while before I caved) and I relapsed again. The purpose of this thread isn't to talk about the emotional issues behind this, but the physical aftermath. My experience this time wasn't like my others.

My job requires me to have a boxcutter (I work in sending and receiving). Our boxcutters use the blades that have sections to break off when your current blade is too dull. I snapped off my used section and the first thing I did with the new section was harm myself. I hadn't used it for any of my work, though it has been sitting in my knife for a while. It was a lot sharper than I expected (I'm used to using the same pair of scissors for this, so I'm not used to the sharpness of new blades) so I did more damage than I intended.

I have clusters of small cuts on both my ankles as a result and one of my ankles is slightly swollen. I just wanted to know if there's any danger of infection I need to worry about? I'm not entirely sure how to go about treating this. I had bandaids with poly on them for a few hours, I'm going to bed now and letting them breathe. I'm hoping to clean the cuts during my shower in the morning. They itched a lot initially, but stopped after a while and are beginning to itch again.

If anyone has any advice, please let me know! I apologize for needing to go into so much detail, all this information seems important for answering my question.

Thank you in advance, and I hope everyone's doing well
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Skeezyks

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Smile Oct 21, 2019 at 01:47 PM
  #2
Well... I'm not a medical professional. So I can't offer you anything in the way of medical advice. Certainly there is always a risk of infection anytime anyone cuts themselves. (I don't think it takes a medical professional to say that.) Whether or not the cuts you made will become infected is something I can't say. And I don't think anyone else can either.

I would guess that if the areas around your cuts start to become red & swollen, that may be a sign there is some infection developing. But that's simply my lay-person's opinion. The best course of action, I think, would be to see a medical professional. However, if you choose not to do that, (& depending on how large & how deep the cuts are) if you keep them clean & perhaps bandage them using some anti-bacterial ointment perhaps that may help. But, there again, these are simply the types of things I would do if I had a cut.

By the way, in addition to infection, the other thing one has to be concerned about with this sort of thing is tetanus. So if you haven't had a tetanus shot recently that may be something else to consider. As recall it is generally recommended that if you cut yourself you should get a tetanus shot if you haven't had one within the past year. At least that's my recollection. Perhaps there will be other PC members who work in the medical profession who will be able to offer better advice. However this is what occurs to me. Best wishes...

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