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WOW!!! I never thought of doing that!! :shock: Thanks for the info!!!

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Originally Posted by ghostrider

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Originally Posted by Lori L

....or as my DH puts it "ghost turd cleaning" LOL

*giggle* given my screen name, we don't call it that here! :lol:

sorry Ghostrider :)

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Originally Posted by Lori L

The infection was not caused by the pin itself.....it was probably caused by the hole the pin made and strep/staph are both opportunistic infections. Which means in layman terms......you had the orgamism (strep bug) on your hand and the pin pushed it under your nail and into your skin when it pierced the surface. Neither staph nor strep live on metal but do live on nice warm skin. Most of us are naturally carriers of staph aureus and it has nothing to do with cleanliness (honest). Now having said that....if you put your pins into your mouth to hold (a very bad habit I have)then you certainly can transfer germs onto the pin which could then be pushed into your skin. It would have to happen relatively quickly though. It's kind of scary when you think about orgamisms (germs) and where they are located. Everything we touch can be transferred onto our hands and then has the potential to cause infection. Most of the time it ends up as a viral infection though and does not occur as a cellulitis like you ended up with. Again...it was the event itself....sticking yourself....that caused the infection, not the pin. Does this help or make sense? The moral to my story is....unless your pins/needles are dirty,dirty dirty they don't need to be cleaned or disinfected. By the way, I'm basing this recommendation on 25yrs of nursing experience and not from just sleeping in a Holiday Inn last night. LOL Hope your infection clears up quickly....it is painful! Ask me how I know :)

So True, a couple of years ago a friend of mine got staph aureus probably from a sliver or from a puncture from gardening and she became so sick that she almost died. Was in hospital for close to a month. said the same, that the staph germ is already on her and it was was pushed into her by the sliver or thorn.

same comment from yet another RN..........we all have GERMS on us........and in us......yuk, I know..........just be sure and clean any area that you cut or stick....wash good, soap and water will do it............

My daughter got a bad staph infection from just ripping off a hangnail. She was little, about three, so I did the mommy thing and put some neosporin on it and a Barbie band aid and a kiss. the next day I was putting a new bandaid on it and it was all red and yucky. I took her to the doctor because it really did look bad. The doc said it was a staph and she could have lost part of her finger. She told me to never put something like neosporin on a little cut like that and seal it up. I basically sealed in all the germs and kept it moist. She told me to wash a little cut or scrape with hot water and soap and that was it.

I do think that your environment might have something to do with getting staph or infections too. I have noticed that here where I live now it is very dry and seldom get any kind of infection. When we lived in a damper climate we all seemed to get them more.

Just an idea and don't know if it would make any difference, but I make pincushions by covering a bar of soap with batting, then fabric -- tying it up like a little gift. I've been using the Dial antibacterial soap because I like the smell. It would at least keep the pins clean.

I make a point of washing my hands with soap and hot water. The hand sanitizers are okay when there is nothing else but it's better not to use them. Kids shouldn't use the sanitizers at all. Research it and decide. I try never put my fingers in my mouth or eyes. Also never use your teeth to open a package! It's like licking the grocery shelf.

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Originally Posted by BellaBoo

I can't use hand sanitizers at all. First time I used it I broke out in a rash that covered my entire body, it was a major alegic reaction that didn't go a away for a week. I stick with plain old bar soap and water.