well i think my hand is better. i can close my fist and its not red anymore. still a good bit swollen though. aside from the size, its completely normal. no pain, full feeling and movement. i really am torn on this one but i think im gonna sleep on it and if it hasnt gone down significantly in the AM i will try the hospital. I dont mean to underestimate it but i really think if something was seriously potentially harmfil, my body would painfully warn me about it
I know you THINK if something is wrong with you it should be painful but that simply isn't the case man I promise you. That is a very poor way to guage if you are ok are not. Your body is telling right now that you are not ok by the swelling, not by the pain. It is your body telling you "warning I am not ok" that is what the swelling is for & I know you want to use some kind of logic to talk yourself into thinking it's not that bad or serious but it IS a very serious situation.
You might be fine this time without medical attention, I said that many times but it is a complete gamble & if it happens again don't tell yourself "well just like last time it's not that painful so that is a sign it's not that bad and I won't need help" because that is completely wrong and how you WILL end up losing your hand It does not have to be painful for something to be completely wrong. There a lot of natural reactions your body produces to actually DULL pain when you've done serious damage to yourself. It's a natural defense mechanism your body has, & the swelling is actually your main sign that something is definitely not right.
TO be honest with you when I had this same problem the swelling was bad & it was only painful for the first few minutes after it happened. Then my hand went rather numb to pain & the swelling was the only sign that it was not ok & something was wrong. But get this, my hand even as swollen as it was, was back to normal within 3 hours of the incident happening.
If it was not gone by that point I would of been in with the Dr. I was already at the hospital 30 min after it initially happening but I was in the waiting room for over 3 hours & by that time is what back to normal for the most part so I left the ER. But I went directly there & bit the bullet because I know how bad an arterial hit can get & I wasn't going to chance losing a body part over waiting. It isn't worth it.
Please take what I've been saying all yesterday and today to heart though. I'm an RN and I work in an ER, I'm an IV opiate user, former heroin addict, I use IV dilaudid daily almost, & I'm truly trying to be unbiased and serious with you because I WANT TO HELP YOU. I wouldn't say crap to just scare you, I'm really a compassionate person & I know that being ignorant to what's wrong in these situations & trying to convince yourself it's going to get better on it's own can kill the window you have to fix the problem before it gets to the point of losing a limb over it.
It's a very real situation and it does happen more than anyone would like to believe. Crap I think there is even some examples off it in our case studies thread showing some arterial shots that resulted in losing limbs. If it isn't all the way down today & not swollen please go. Even if it looks a little better & has gone down a little bit you still need to go.
If it was going to be better & heal perfect on its own it should have done so within a few hours of the arterial shot. It might honestly still be fine on its own, it is totally a possibility but not a gamble that is worth taking i my opinion over a quick visit and check up at the ER. I promise you won't be arrested for it, period. Just don't bring drugs or syringes etc. to the hospital and you will be fine.
Please give me an update on your situation/condition as I am concerned and worried about you. If you lived in Idaho I'd seriously tell you the ER I worked in and make it so you could come to me specifically so I could reassure you that you will not be arrested for seeking treatment.
Be safe, you have people here who are supporting you that care about your situation. But it's really hard to care about someone who won;t take the initiative to be serious and care about there self. I swear to myself everytime this happens on here & someone asks for advice, then doesn't like what you tell them so they don't take it seriously that I'm not going to waste my breathe next time. but I always do because I care about people too much. But it is frustrating because people make these posts and just want to here "Hey your going to be fine man, it happens all the time and nothing bad ever comes from it. You don't need to go to a Dr. dude, yeah right!"
When that simply isn't the case with most IV complications, & seriously arterial hits are way up on the top of the list of serious IV complications that can have devastating results or can heal on there own with no damage. They are a huge gamble & there is never a "medium" with them. Arterial hits either go away and are fine or end up losing your limb. It's a gamble I simply can't take & you shouldn't either.
Sorry this is long but like I said I really do care & want to help you because I've been in your same situation. Arterial hit and all, plus i get first hand views professionally of these types of problems & there outcomes. If you would like you can even PM me & we can talk privately, I'd even look at some pictures of your arm if you can take them & let you know how it looks. How bad is it still swollen truly?
