Diving with open wound?

[DawgDiver]

Okay so about a week ago i scraped my ankle pretty bad, pretty much just took the skin off of it, little bit of bleeding, but because of where it is (pretty much constantly in contact with the top of my shoes, rubbing it and keeping it from healing) it's taking longer to heal. Well i'm diving in the lake in the morning, and the water isn't exactly clean. If I just make sure to clean it well after diving, will I be ok? Or do I need to worry about a bad infection?

 

[fisherdvm]

I don't recommend any of my patients to go into "clean" water in chlorinated pools with open wound, not to mention "dirty" water.

The risk is too high. Ecoli and pseudomonas are both found in abundance in lakes, ponds, and streams. Multidrug resistance is not only common, but expected.

If it got infected, we commonly treat with Bactrim or Cipro... but beware if it doesn't work... and you might end up in the hospital for IV therapy (unless your doc did a culture and sensitivity first).

Have I dove with open wound before? Yes, but very superficial abrasion and in salt water. I probably wouldn't do it on freshwater, as the bacteria count is usually higher.

 

[Diver Dennis]

I use one of those waterproof bandages and Polysporin. I've had some bad infections, one ending up in the hospital, when I had a fever spike in Palau. If it gets bad, I'll stay out of the water... for a day or so.

We always carry Cipro and some other meds where ever we go.

 

[DawgDiver]

Well I ended up diving today anyway. I made sure to pour hydrogen peroxide on the cut though after diving so, we'll see what happens. I'll post up if it gets infected just so you guys can get your "i told you so's" in.