Ever used a bread/milk/salt poultice?

[Bec3b1g]

I was bitten by something bad on my arm about 10 days ago. I have no idea what, but I'm thinking it was some sort of venomous spider. The bite became infected and had to be cut open and drained. Super creepy and yuck, I know. After 2 follow-up visits, my dr. is recommending a bread/milk/salt poultice twice a day to try and draw the infection out. Has anyone heard of this?

For anyone that has had an infected bite, how long did it take to get better? I'm going a little crazy, honestly, and the pictures on the internet aren't helping. I'm also becoming a little paranoid looking around everywhere for spiders

 

[diznygirl]

My dad is old school and used to do this for us when we were little.

I also saw on Daniel Boone that you can use bear fat. Your choice.

 

[Laura66]

Is he giving you antibiotics? If it's infected and you're putting non-sterile things on it - well, that just doesn't sound smart.

 

[Bec3b1g]

Is he giving you antibiotics? If it's infected and you're putting non-sterile things on it - well, that just doesn't sound smart.

The dr. is holding off until the culture results are back and/or it gets worse. Since he left the wound open to drain, I too was worried about the poultice making it worse. *Sigh* I really need this to start getting better. Not knowing if it's going to get better or worse is wearing on me.

 

[Lavaluma]

I've never heard of that combination, but I would try it if that is what the doctor recommends. My dad went through several rounds of antibiotics for a foot infection and the thing that worked the best was manuka honey.

 

[Happy Snowman]

It's really odd that an MD is waiting for antibiotics after 2 visits including one to open the wound and drain the infection.

 

[Laura66]

It's really odd that an MD is waiting for antibiotics after 2 visits including one to open the wound and drain the infection.

You can tell if it's infected if there's redness around the wound and what kind of puss.
I'm really not buying this. Having you leave with an open wound, advising you to put something unsterile on it and not giving you antibiotics - I'm no doctor but that does not seem smart at all.

 

[Feralpeg]

We used them a lot when I was a kid, but we used bread, milk and sugar. I would think salt would hurt a lot!

 

[Bec3b1g]

[GALLERY=][GALLERY=][/GALLERY][/GALLERY]

You can tell if it's infected if there's redness around the wound and what kind of puss.
I'm really not buying this. Having you leave with an open wound, advising you to put something unsterile on it and not giving you antibiotics - I'm no doctor but that does not seem smart at all.

Hmmmm..Well I'm not really sure how to take this. Are you implying I'm making this up? I find it strange that you think you know more than the two doctors I saw for this.

The first dr at urgent care thought it might be an infected sebaceous cyst. I have soreness, swelling, low grade fever, mild redness with bruising. She opened and drained it. It was mostly blood with some pus. She cultured it and I'm waiting on results. She felt draining it would be sufficient to take care of the infection.

I called my family doctor the next day because the drainage has an odd smell and there's still swelling and a lump. My low grade fever is gone. Mild redness still there. My dr doesn't want to cut into it again and he wants to wait for the culture results. If my status changes or the culture results warrant it, he will prescribe antibiotics. After talking with him about quickly this happened, he felt it was probably a bite but it's really impossible to know what's going on without the culture results.

And because I'm offended at the don't buy this comment, I'm attaching a pic of my discharge notes that I've cropped for privacy reasons. He said milk or water in the appointment.

 

[Laura66]

[GALLERY=][GALLERY=][/GALLERY][/GALLERY]

Hmmmm..Well I'm not really sure how to take this. Are you implying I'm making this up? I find it strange that you think you know more than the two doctors I saw for this.

The first dr at urgent care thought it might be an infected sebaceous cyst. I have soreness, swelling, low grade fever, mild redness with bruising. She opened and drained it. It was mostly blood with some pus. She cultured it and I'm waiting on results. She felt draining it would be sufficient to take care of the infection.

I called my family doctor the next day because the drainage has an odd smell and there's still swelling and a lump. My low grade fever is gone. Mild redness still there. My dr doesn't want to cut into it again and he wants to wait for the culture results. If my status changes or the culture results warrant it, he will prescribe antibiotics. After talking with him about quickly this happened, he felt it was probably a bite but it's really impossible to know what's going on without the culture results.

And because I'm offended at the don't buy this comment, I'm attaching a pic of my discharge notes that I've cropped for privacy reasons. He said milk or water in the appointment.

View attachment 89941

Well I stand corrected! Thank you!
If you're comfortable with that treatment by all means follow their advise.
I wouldn't be and would be getting a third opinion. But maybe because I know someone who had a bite get infected and lost his arm.

 

[minnie mum]

Wow, what a blast from the past! OP, bread poultices are an old, tried and true remedy that is centuries old, and is still used by some today. I have seen doctors recommend these to this day, and have even used them myself. They are used to "draw" an area of localized skin infection. I've also seen them used on boils to bring them to a head.

You can use milk or a salt water solution to soak the bread. The salt shouldn't sting- you wouldn't use much more than a teaspoon of salt in a full glass of warm water - similar to a saline gargle. You can find the recipe on google.

Good for your doctor for having you do this while awaiting results. Chances are you may not even need the antibiotics, which is always a good thing. Of course you will continue to monitor your own status and watch for a recurrence of fever or a worsening of any redness or pain. Those would of course tell you to immediately return to your doctor.

 

[indygirl99]

The dr. is holding off until the culture results are back and/or it gets worse. Since he left the wound open to drain, I too was worried about the poultice making it worse. *Sigh* I really need this to start getting better. Not knowing if it's going to get better or worse is wearing on me.

This is a tried and true remedy and works very well. The doctor is waiting for the culture results because you can mess up a lot by using the wrong antibiotics. Try the poultice and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Salt is a natural disinfectant so you don't need to worry about making it worse. Hope you are feeling better soon.

 

[Kitty 34]

I had a horrendous cyst under my arm when I was 18. My Moms' poultice worked like a charm.

 

[Straitlover]

Probably wanting to wait and make sure they sue the correct antibiotic. My sis recently went to the urgent care for a sore throat. They did a culture for strep (rapid was negative so they did the other one to double check) and they gave her an antibiotic to take. She found out later from her that it was positive (urgent care never called) and that she needed to be on another antibiotic instead. Well, she ended up w/ c.diff from all the antibiotic switching. Hope they caught it in time so she doesn't end up having to have colon surgery!!!

 

[Bec3b1g]

As of this morning, I think I'm finally starting to improve. Still no word on the culture results. I'm believing that no news is good news

 

[minnie mum]

So did you use the poultice?

 

[Bec3b1g]

So did you use the poultice?

Yes