Can coral polyps grow in your skin?

[DavidPT40]

Interesting subject. I heard somewhere that human blood has about the same salinity as seawater. The Japanese experimented with replacing blood plasma with seawater in the 40s (didnt work btw). But my bet is that its just an infection.

 

[Doc]

am pretty sure a physician will just say to put Neosporin on it.

That's the real point. I have been to many strange foreign lands and sometimes have brought back strange foreign critters inside my body.

Doctors know what they know. There are diseases that were once prevelant in the US that occasionaly crop up- most Doctors have no clue.

Many years ago I contacted two red dots on a piece of dead coral. A little zap on my under forearm at the moment.

Then welts.

Then weeping oozing sores. For about six months, Alternating with some dime sized necrosis.

One MD says keep it dry. Another says keep it sealed and covered. A third says: do bothon alternating full moons.

You're no longer on top of the food chain.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Interesting subject. I heard somewhere that human blood has about the same salinity as seawater.

JFK said it; it has become a "famous quote" and common knowledge. He was wrong. Sea water is about three times as salty as blood.
Rick

 

[Cacia]

Many years ago I contacted two red dots on a piece of dead coral. A little zap on my under forearm at the moment.

Then welts.

Then weeping oozing sores. For about six months, Alternating with some dime sized necrosis.

One MD says keep it dry. Another says keep it sealed and covered. A third says: do bothon alternating full moons.

You're no longer on top of the food chain.

THATS EXACTLY WHAT I HAVE!!! little nick "dots" then itchy weeping, sloughing to dime size.......I swear, it is like aliens in there, trying to get out. Doc pm'd me about scubaboard md, I better get on it before I have flesh eating bacteria or something. I WILL NEVER TOUCH CORAL AGAIN.

 

[liberato]

The Japanese experimented with replacing blood plasma with seawater in the 40s...

Yes, but the patients weren't exactly willing:

Human vivisection on prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians also occurred within the confines of Imperial Japan’s most prestigious medical schools and universities. For example, the medical school of Kyushu Imperial University (located in the city of Fukuoka on Kyushu Island) was one of the most important medical training facilities in Japan. Its professors were considered to be among the finest scholars within the Empire. Senior professors took part in the vivisection experiments, while young interns either assisted their superiors in the experiments, or observed the activity. These experiments included: replacing blood with sea water; excising lungs, stomachs, livers, and other organs from POWs; interrupting blood flow from arteries of the heart to determine the time death would occur from such a procedure; and drilling holes in craniums, then inserting scalpels into the brain to determine what, if anything, medically useful could be discovered from the procedure.​

http://www.bordeninstitute.army.mil/ethicsbook_files/Ethics2/Ethics-ch-16.pdf

 

[Diver0001]

Rick, Dennis, Dr Bill

Thanks for the feedback. Nope, it is still very strange. Not like infected exactly, I guess I will eventually get it looked at. I contacted some fire sponge in The Rhone (Tortola) last year that caused some sloughing. Even the joints are swollen. I am an RN and I am pretty sure a physician will just say to put Neosporin on it.

It's probably infected.

If it were me I'd try a shotgun approach of hydrogen peroxide 3 or 4 times a day, an antibacterial cream, lots of air and sunlight when you're out of the water and frequent cleaning. To keep it from getting worse while you're diving you could try those blister things to keep the water out but you'll have to remove them again right after the dive.

But you probably know this.

R..

 

[liberato]

It's the necrosis part that scares me.

"Coral poisoning" describes these red, raised welts and local pruritus. Low-grade fever may be present and does not necessarily indicate an infection. With or without prompt treatment, this may progress to cellulitis with ulceration and tissue sloughing. These wounds heal slowly (3 to 6 weeks) and result in prolonged morbidity. In an extreme case, the victim develops cellulitis with lymphangitis, reactive bursitis, local ulceration, and wound necrosis.​

http://www.askdrwarren.com/qa010305.htm#q5

 

[Cacia]

"reactive bursitis" yup, yup, all the knuckles are swollen. I will check out the link! I used to have a horse in Carmel Valley, BTW. I was a nurse at Scripps on Torrey Pines Road. Great area.

 

[Rick Murchison]

There's a product that I like called Granulex. I'm not an MD so all I can say is "works for me..."
Rick

 

[DavidPT40]

The guys at reefcentral.com are pretty familiar with saltwater afflictions. Several of the guys have had to be rushed to the emergency room after touching toxic animals in their aquariums.