Stabbed by a catfish.

[zoe87]

Has anyone been jabbed by a catfish before. I got jabbed a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was all good and healed. Now the stab sight has gone all puffy, itchy and really sore. Is this normal, I've read that they take ages to heal.

 

[saintanger]

i use to keep large fresh water cat fish as pets and never got stabbed myself but a friend who picked one up got stabbed in the hand and he said it was painful and sore for a few days. but if yours is puffy and itchy and really sore you might have an infection.

 

[bohdi13]

yeh, dropped one on my leg it took a very long time to heal and in your case it might have got infected hence the reason why it is now inflamed.

 

[Trimeresurus]

Are you sure none of the barb snapped off in there?

 

[zoe87]

I was hit twice the first one was very small and bled a little but the second hit was huge it went quite deep and the skin was cut fairly wide and there was a lot of blood. When it happened I gave it a good clean and a squeeze just incase there was anything in there. It hurt like a ant bite for a couple of hours and then just ached for about three days. It never got infected and until yesterday it was completely healed and the scabs were gone. Now they have puffed up like big mozzie bites. It was all cleaned properly and I know infections and this isn't one.

 

[SurrealReptiles]

What type of catfish?

 

[zoe87]

I believe a salmon/fork tailed catfish. Got done by the pectoral spines. It was between stradbroke and sort of the mouth of the Logan river. Not 100% about location cause I was on a boat.

 

[SurrealReptiles]

Should have put whatever part of your body that got spiked in the hottest water you can tolerate. Take ibuprofen for the swelling.

 

[Skeptic]

See a doctor. Possibly infected

 

[happynagini]

Should have put whatever part of your body that got spiked in the hottest water you can tolerate. Take ibuprofen for the swelling.

Ibuprofen wont help swelling, great for pain though.
Paracetamol + ibuprofen is what you wanna be doing! Ah pure heaven.

 

[Bluetongue1]

removing ambiguities & uneeded comment

Salmon-tail Catfish do have toxins that increase the pain and irritation of a wound. Their effects can last up to 24 hours.

While I am most certainly not qualified to provide a diagnosis, it sounds like you have retained a foreign body at the base of the wound. It could be a piece of barb from the spine that caused your wound. If embedded in muscle tissue (below the skin and fat layers) it would have required removal with forceps as it would not wash out. It sounds like you got rid of any bacteria and so there is no inflammation/redness (dilation of capillaries allowing increased blood flow as a response to bacterial presence). I would say your body is trying to get rid of the object by attacking it with white cells in an attempt to digest it. This results in increased plasma around the foreign body as the capillaries become more permeable to allow white blood cells to exit capillaries more readily. It can also produce pus if white blood cells die as a result of attacking the foreign body. The swelling can make it painful or just sensitive to any pressure. I don’t know what causes the itching but suspect it has to do with nerve endings being stimulated by the increased pressure. A bit of homework for me to do there lol.

You do need to go to a doctor. If it were a shallow puncture then the processes described above can often produce a surface pustule which eventually bursts and expels the foreign body in the process. A bit like an over-sized zit with a nasty core. However, being deep, this is unlikely and there could be other issues develop if left there. And if it is not a foreign body then you still need to see a doctor to determine what is happening and why and what needs to be done about it.

I don’t envy you.

Good luck with it.
Blue

 

[SurrealReptiles]

Ibuprofen wont help swelling, great for pain though.
Paracetamol + ibuprofen is what you wanna be doing! Ah pure heaven.

Mmmmmm ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory. Of course it will help swelling.

 

[happynagini]

Mmmmmm ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory. Of course it will help swelling.

I know this, but paracetamol is more effective with swelling and ibuprofen is more effective with pain. And put together itll help you survive a 7 hour tattoo session

 

[Skeptic]

I know this, but paracetamol is more effective with swelling and ibuprofen is more effective with pain. And put together itll help you survive a 7 hour tattoo session

Wrong

 

[Rach85]

nvm

 

[GeckoJosh]

I know this, but paracetamol is more effective with swelling and ibuprofen is more effective with pain. And put together itll help you survive a 7 hour tattoo session

Other way around actually

 

[Luvbuz]

As a kid I was fishing off the bribie island jetty and got hit by a catfish. An old timer next to me said he'd show me how to heal it immediately. He ripped the fish open and found the gall bladder, normally a bluey green sac behind the gut, then he squeezed the contents onto the stab site and the relief was immediate, effective and long-lasting. I do that whenever I now get jabbed which isn't often (older and wiser) with the big catties I get around Cairns. Same result, never even needed panadol, the pain and swelling just disappear. Might be a bit late for that now though. Another very effective remedy is to plunge the wound into almost boiling water which breaks the venom/slime down and reduces pain and swelling. Also not as messy as the gall bladder trick!