Tetanus injections...know anything?

[Hailstorm]

DF sliced his thumb open yesterday at work and needed a tetanus injection, today his arm is really swollen and sore so sore that he can't lift it above shoulder height. The swelling is quite large it can fit into the palm of his hand...I called that nurse on call hotline thing but the woamn I spoke to was completely useless, just wondering if anyone know if this is normal or should he be going back to the doctor to have it checked?
He has no other symptoms at all aprt from feeling useless as he really needs to be at work but can't be...he's taken some panadol and has put an ice pack on it...any other tips?
TIA

[~Harmony~]

Ouch! Vauge idea it can be quite common, I think I remember being quite sore for quite a while after my last one, and Kim too, but some years ago now. Maybe ring your GP or local hospital? Hope it does get much better really soon!

[DePome]

It does sound like a typical reaction to a vaccine.

I don't know what work your DF does but tetanus isn't needed nearly as often medics would have us think. A country hospital tried to give DD2 tetanus a few months ago when she got a big swelling on her eyelid and her back from mosquito bites!

Tetanus cannot live in the presence of air, so where a wound is open or shallow it is usually fine to leave it uncovered and then tetanus cannot take over. Deep or closed wounds, such as bad cat scratches are more susceptible. A few years ago I chopped the top of my thumb off with a large kitchen knife and I was offered tetanus (do they REALLY believe my kitchen knife has tetanus on it?!!) and I declined saying I would uncover it as soon as I could/the bleeding had stopped. I didn't see any point in me dealing with the side-effects of the vaccination when it was so easy to avoid the infection with a wound like that.


HTH

[Jakaluma]

I think it sounds pretty typical reaction to tetnus - like someone wacked your arm with a massive mallet

[Hailstorm]

phew thanks guys DF was getting a bit worried about it, the swelling has started to come down alot and he has a lot more movement in it than he did this morning, he's had an ice pack on it most of the afternoon and says that it reallyhelps alot.
FTR Deb he's a tiler...oops make that a PROFESSIONAL floor and wall tiler ( that's what he calls himself) he cut his finger with a stanley knife at work and it was actually a brand new blade so I'm thinking that he prolly didn't need the shot anyway, I think he's more upset about having to cancel a fishing trip he had planned with a few of his mates than anything else oh well looks like he's stuck at home with me and the kids now

[Ama]

Just wondering,....
DS is not vaccinated at all.
Were he to get a rusty nail in his foot, would it be necessary for me to compromise his pure little body with a tetanus shot? Would anyone out there place total trust in a homeopathic remedy for this?

[Astra2]

Tetanus is a really nasty one. My uncle had tetanus (many years ago) and he was very lucky to survive. They ground his teeth down so that they could feed him through the gap. I was just reading that 67% of people who get tetanus require intubation and the treatment involves vaccination, injection of anti-toxin wound debridement and excision around the wound with a 2cm margin. I'm not trying to scare you, I'm a med student so this is where my interes lies. I guess if you really don't want to vax then you could just watch and wait following a deep cut. The signs to look out for following would be muscle spasms, trouble breathing or swollowing. If any of these occurred then you would need to rush him to the ED.

I really hope that doesn't sound too gloom and doom.

[ENR]

Tetanus is very nasty. If stepping on a rusty nail, I personally, would not put total trust on a homeopathic remedy as there isn't much that I have found to say that it helps very much at all but I would definately use one. Something that would help a lot more is if your immune system is strong by healthy lifestyle.

It would be a very hard choice to make for me. If he did step on a nail or anything like that I would say to take him to the ED straight away regardless of symptoms and get them to clean out the wound completly because tetanus travels through the body in the first 24 hours. You can refuse a vaccination if you feel uncomfortable about it.

[2monkeys]

I have always read that getting a tetanus shot at the ER after diagnosing Tetanus was actually too late and also dangerous. This document is old but I rely on Dr. Tenpenny's books/CDs a lot - Diphtheria & tetanus vaccination by Sherri Tenpenny DO

I thought it was routine to get immune globulin at the ER when presenting with Tetanus and with no or unknown Tetanus status.

I hope I will never personally have to go through this. I wish your DF well.

[mine-mmy]

had to make this call recently with DD1 as she cut her hand on glass. My ex and i decided not to give her the jab 1. because she had just broken the glass so we knew it was clean and the wound was clean (and had bled a lot) and no glass was left inside
2. it wouldnt have just been the tetnus shot, it would have also had the diptheria and whatever the other one is as well.
as we have not vaccinated her at all, we didnt want to start putting it in, just to get the tetnus in, when it was a clean cut anyways.
if it had been dirty and suspect, i think we would have probably gone the other way though.