being kiting a fair bit in the swan river over the last few months and been getting a fair few cuts on my feet from rocks/shells. nothing major was cleaning them with betadine and no problems. cut myself last wednesday on a mussel bed went home had a shower and didnt clean my foot. next day headed up to kalbarri camping for easter that afternoon my foot started throbbing. to my surprise there was a red line working up my veins so obviously infected. didnt go to doctors for four days now on antibiotics and out of the water for a few days. if only i hadnt got lazy and cleaned it or even gone to the doctor earlier. anyway my cut has healed but the infection is still there. bummer

dam harry no good

Here is a thought for you. If i remember correctly around 10 people a year die at the great lakes in USA from Oyster Shell Septicemia and it has about a 40% mortality rate. Washing cuts is not something that should be an option when it comes to the sea, the bacteria is more dangerous than most people think.

i learnt the hard way. little graze. turned into a nice sea alser that took about a month and a half to heal, still a nice hole in my left from the scar

the hard (and scary) way for me too
The slightest graze from a nasty bit of coral at Exmouth. Just a small red itchy spot on my knee that didnt even look like broken skin.
Two days later was the first of seven days bed rest in Exmouth hospital being monitored on some seriously serious antibiotics. They had 3 treatment options for the particular infection I had 'caught'.
1) the antibiotic I was put on first. Hugely expensive, canberra approval etc etc
2) one other even more serious & costlier antibiotic
then
3) amputation from the hip.
I kid you not - thats for real.
And its not all that uncommon in tropical reef areas.
A simple washdown with peroxide or disinfectant on the day would (almost certainly) have prevented any problem at all.

And if you are going to kite a real lot, then get rid of the friggen straps. All that rubbing eventually opens a wound and then all your troubles really begin.

went to doctor today cause glands in groin area were a bit sore. turns out i was just being paranoid( probably from reading the replies) and all is good. just a few more days out of the water and all should be cool.

not to keen on the booties idea but i seem to cut myself all the time

by the way when i was in kalbarri at jakes copt a nice pounding on the rocks going in and ended up bruising the ankle on the same foot as infection.

on another note if you ever kite in the river mouth at kalbarri watch out for the crab pots( floating bottles) got board caught in one, face planted, then somehow one of the steering lines wrapped itself around the neck of the plastic bottle the kite wanted to loop at full power had to use safety and self rescue.

A good (but creepy) treatment for Sea urchins - piss on 'em.
Or better still, soak you foot in a bucket of it.

Koori bloke told me about it and it works a treat - if you soak them they pop out way easier and don't ever seem to get really infected.

First day on surf holiday slashed a 5cm gash my foot on a rock at Currumbin Alley - the cut would reopen with every step. Heard about supergluing football injuries so gave it a good scrub out with all kinds of disinfectant and glued it back up. No problem then. Was sore for a few days but the end of the week I was tearing up the Flowrider!

Now I wouldn't recommend this for everyone and will admit we used some small degree of skill to stick it shut using outer skin layers only and glued on stiching but it worked for me. Took ages after to heal properly tho..

The latest info on wound management is to wash it very thoroughly with clean tap water. "Wash" means to irrigate it very thoroughly and get all the crap out of the wound.

Then apply one of the new (and expensive) water proof wound dressings (Op-Site, Duo Derm or Cutifilm ). Then just leave the dressing on for a week or so.

The wound is kept clean but moist so the tissue can grow back faster. It is much more effective than letting a scab form.

You don't use Betadine or antiseptic because that damages the growing tissue as well as killing the bugs.

It is ok to use sterilised water but you have to use heaps. Tap water is fine in most civilised countries.

If it is a weeping wound then use one of the gel-based dressings that absorb gunk.

This method works really well. With the transparent dressings you can visibly see the skin grow back from day to day. The other good thing is you can go kiting with the water proof dressing in place.