child keeps getting infections in fingers and toes

chiefpossession

I had a quick look on t'internet and these do occur on the toes. It is distressing and very painful. I was about 8 when I had one and I still remember having to wait for a couple of hours to see a doctor who lanced it. I could see the damn thing growing and spreading within 24 hours of my thumb first being sore.

silkyuk9

coinxoperated wrote: »

Oh and I had a staph infection in my upper thigh a few months back. It was caused by a little bug bite! I hadn't even noticed it until it got red and angry. Has he been in the garden? Could it be a couple of ants that have nipped him?

hes only 8 months old and really does not go out anyway, so no bites etc.

silkyuk9

coinxoperated wrote: »

No worries I don't have kids so I'm just running off what I've heard.

Out of interest, how are you actually keeping his nails short?

Could it be that he got a cut under his nail, got food stuck in it which has now led to a staph infection and your not cutting his nails incase it makes it worse, therefore it's not getting properly cleaned out?

Just running off ideas! what a horrible situation for you and son to be in. I hope all is well soon for you

His mum uses nail clippers, but believe me everything is clean, shes Italian and everything is spotless also shes a 3rd year medical student so theres nothing happening that shouldn't be

coinxoperated

Oh no! How difficult!

Does he have any signs of teeth yet? Could he be chewing them? (Sorry if this is a silly question!)

Sometimes just typing the symptoms into google can give you ideas of what it could be - might be worth a try!

silkyuk9

coinxoperated wrote: »

Oh no! How difficult!

Does he have any signs of teeth yet? Could he be chewing them? (Sorry if this is a silly question!)

Sometimes just typing the symptoms into google can give you ideas of what it could be - might be worth a try!

2 teeth are coming through on the bottom, these weren't there the finger episode, also he does not put feet in mouth. Im sure this is going to be a condition rather than self inflicted etc.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

silkyuk9 wrote: »

no pets, and believe me his mum is Italian on her hands and knees all the time, home is spotless. They do not use and soapy substances on him as he has a little exma (not sure how to spell it)

no toe or nail cutting, when he was in hospital nothing was diagnosed

Maybe that's it - not using soap means the bacteria get a chance to make their way in around the cuticle.

What would she have to wash her hands in to scrub up if she had eczema at the hospital? Or what would be used to deal with infected eczema patches on the ward?

silkyuk9

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Maybe that's it - not using soap means the bacteria get a chance to make their way in around the cuticle.

What would she have to wash her hands in to scrub up if she had eczema at the hospital? Or what would be used to deal with infected eczema patches on the ward?

The doctor prescribed soap he uses but its not oil based, so they do wash him in a soap substance

bigmomma051204

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

Perhaps this? The top pic looks very similar to yours AND it mentions that its common in dental hygienists/dentists because of persistant hand washing... u keep mentioning that your daughter in law is VERY clean and is a medical student ......?

valk_scot

My DD had these when she was really tiny, I was at the hospital with her when she was a few days old. It's basically caused by bacteria getting into damp patches of skin, the nails growing are enough to open tiny fissures at the sides of the nails and the bacteria get in there. The things you've got to do at home are to keep the areas clean, keep them dry and let the air in as much as possible. So no socks or scratch mitts when at home, dry the hands and toes really well after washing and try to keep the hands clean...I used soap and water, but whatever you use, use it frequently and get in there with a good absorbant towel. I was also told this was one time that using a dummy was a positive advantage as this kept the baby from chewing at their hands and spreading mouth bacteria into the micro cracks.

Mine grew out of it after a few months btw, though we had two more hospital visits and antibiotics once. My guess (I'm no doctor though) is that it's something to do with the eczema causing micro cracks in the skin, so possibly some sort of moisturiser might help make the skin more supple?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

silkyuk9 wrote: »

The doctor prescribed soap he uses but its not oil based, so they do wash him in a soap substance

Well, I've googled and found this link http://www.nationaleczema.org/articles/infection-and-eczema about eczema - towards the end it mentions that creams can trap infection - as many people already have staph. on their skin in the first place, maybe it's just one of those things, and a little pocket of bacteria has been trapped by emollient, or they used the same tub the second time round instead of replacing it.



Presumably, there has been swabs taken and the lab has come back with what bacteria are present and what they are sensitive to? So the correct antibiotics are being used?




I get them from time to time, probably because I bite my nails and take low dose chemo. I use saline/salt water or magnesium sulphate paste (drawing paste from the chemist) because it pulls the water out of the bacteria, which causes it to die. DD2 also gets them occasionally, once it was very bad around her thumb and was tracking down - they happen. And I go to the GP if it doesn't get better quickly.



It's easy to say don't worry, but I'm sure with all you say, this will be sorted out soon for him.