Does This Look Infected..?

Here's a little tip for you all:

If you get to the point where an injury, no matter how small, makes you ask someone else if it may be infected... It's infected.

This happened to me the other day as someone, let's call him Dave, decided to ask me, a renowned non medical person of some repute, whether his bright red, pus filled, angry looking cut on the back of his hand was infected.

I looked at it. It was as obvious as when Sigourney Weaver said to the guy in 'Alien' just as a creature burst from his chest... "I would get that looked at if I were you... I've got a tube of Savlon.."

Listen up. The give away to an infection is soreness, redness and pus. The best way to treat it is to do something about it before you get to the pus stage because there may be a very real chance that you will progress to the next stage of untreated infection...

A short course of hospital food, then death.

It's no good waiting for my opinion on the rate of Staphylococcus aureus bacterial infection and consequences, as the blood specked, oozing pus seeps into your shirt cuffs is it..? Why are you asking me..? And why are you showing it to me at lunchtime over a panini and coffee..?

I fully expect to see this post picked up by a medical professor and published in the next edition of The Lancet, where GP's will see it, stroke their chins and declare... "He's right y'know.."

Until then dear friends of mine, stop showing me your obviously infected wounds and go to the Doctor, or buy a tube of 'InfectaGo' or something similar... Because that pus has just put me right off my melted cheese panini.

Paul Martin is @ukcameraman on Twitter.