Oyster Shell Injury Dangers

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kingfish
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Oyster Shell Injury Dangers

Post by kingfish »

I was wading at Sydnor Bayou on Thursday prior to putting my kayak in the water. While walking back in some of the rocks I walked on were loose and one of these flipped over as I stepped on and a very sharp oyster shell made a deep cut in my shin. It bled profusely which is a good thing. At my truck, I rinsed it with some Ozarka then rubbed it with some alcohol based hand sanitizer and put a loose bandage on it. From there I headed to a doc office on 61st. The NP doc there told me that I was not at too great risk for runaway infections as long as I kept an eye out for signs of infection. He stitched up the cut with 4 stitches, gave me a tetanus shot and 2 different antibiotics to take for 10 days.

With all the horror stories I have read and seen on the news regarding Vibrio infections, flesh eating bacteria (yummy) and other life-threatening infections, I did not want to take any chances. I am still worried about it although seems to be healing nicely and there is no pain.

Anyone got any experiences with any serious shell cuts or other open injuries or information to add or offer? I don't like taking the meds, but under theh circumstances it is probably necessary.

Thanks,
Kingfish
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Jigawatt
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Re: Oyster Shell Injury Dangers

Post by Jigawatt »

One time, while barefoot at the beach, I stepped on a shell and it broke off inside my foot. The wound bled profusely, and I had to quit for the day. The funny thing is, I didn't know that the shell had broken off and that there was a piece of shell deep inside my foot. The foot healed over, and I thought that was that. But there was some lingering soreness for like a month that I just attributed to a very deep wound. Then one day, after a long walk, I noticed that the soreness in that area had suddenly grown. I could feel a puss pocket just under the skin on the bottom of my foot where the shell had jabbed me, so I took a knife and lanced it and squeezed, and out popped the piece of shell. This time the foot healed up for good. I probably deserve vibrio, just because of my lackadaisicalness in wound care. My luck, I think, has me fooled into thinking that I'll be okay. But you definitely did the right thing there getting professional care. Better to be safe than sorry.
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Yaklash
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Re: Oyster Shell Injury Dangers

Post by Yaklash »

Better safe than sorry.

You'll know if it gets infected; dark red and sore. Sounds like you're good to go, but probably not back into the water for a while.
NS4419
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Re: Oyster Shell Injury Dangers

Post by NS4419 »

Three spring breaks ago, I was a Freshman at A&M in Corpus. Got out of class early Friday at the very beginning of the break. Me and some buddies were on the water within the hour. We kayaked out to Shamrock to fish that area. We get there and in an hour the wind picks up to 30+ but fishing is great so there's no way we were leaving lol one of the guys decided to kayak back to go get a boat from home because the wind was only getting worse. I forgot my wading boots at home (in the excitement to start spring break on the water) so all I have is my pair of reef flip flops (first mistake). Near the end of the trip (boat still enroute), the front of my flip flop kicks an oyster shell and my big toe lands right on top of it and gets cut nearly to the bone. My buddy helps me to shore, I tied my toe off with some mono to stop the bleeding and then take the mono off once a clot formed. The boat then shows up and we head back to land and onto Bay Area ER. They X-rayed it to check for any shell fragments, put one stitch in it to allow an infection to ooze out if one develops and to hold it together. I get a prescription for Doxycycline which is known to make people burn faster. All spring break I had to wear SPF 100 sunscreen otherwise I would burn in 10
minutes. But no further complications or infection developed. You should be fine.
PoetwarriorX
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Re: Oyster Shell Injury Dangers

Post by PoetwarriorX »

I have fallen on oyster reefs twice. Both times were hard on the hands. After the first time I have consistently worn gloves when I wade fish. Reefs can be great places to fish and are terrible places to stumble and fall.
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Throttlehead250
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Re: Oyster Shell Injury Dangers

Post by Throttlehead250 »

i had a pretty good oyster incident in the summer of 2011

went to the doc they flushed it, cleaned it, gave me a new Tetanus shot even though i had one not but a couple years before. and stapled it shut. healed up like a champ didnt have one problem with it. just kept it clean and wrapped for about a week and then open air healed for another couple weeks

btw i will delete these pics if they bother anyone. i just like people to know how sharp those oysters really are. there are a ton of people who do not know.
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robert arsuaga
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Re: Oyster Shell Injury Dangers

Post by robert arsuaga »

This is a lesson that needs to be seen not experienced ... people will think more than twice the next time they attempt fishing any oyster bed areas . Thanks for educating .
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Throttlehead250
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Re: Oyster Shell Injury Dangers

Post by Throttlehead250 »

robert arsuaga wrote:This is a lesson that needs to be seen not experienced ... people will think more than twice the next time they attempt fishing any oyster bed areas . Thanks for educating .
i agree, anyone who doesnt have to deal with an ER bill is WAY better off.

the key if you MUST walk on oysters is to double check your footing before you take that step and shift all your weight. and along with my PFD that im already wearing i walk with my stakeout stick in hand if im crossing shell, or any structure.
NS4419
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Re: Oyster Shell Injury Dangers

Post by NS4419 »

robert arsuaga wrote:This is a lesson that needs to be seen not experienced ... people will think more than twice the next time they attempt fishing any oyster bed areas . Thanks for educating .
Here's pictures of mine then. The first is the initial wound as soon as we got to the truck, and the second is after the nurses cleaned it up and put a stitch in.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1375065893.074992.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1375065908.873873.jpg
As said before, if these bother anyone at all, I will take them down. Like Robert said though, it's best to see what can be avoided instead of experiencing it first hand.
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Throttlehead250
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Re: Oyster Shell Injury Dangers

Post by Throttlehead250 »

my buddy did the exact same thing wearing flip flops on his first kayak trip
GingaNinja
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Re: Oyster Shell Injury Dangers

Post by GingaNinja »

Definitely gonna get some gloves after seeing that. Thanks for sharing guys.
NS4419
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Re: Oyster Shell Injury Dangers

Post by NS4419 »

Throttlehead250 wrote:my buddy did the exact same thing wearing flip flops on his first kayak trip
Yea that was the first time I'd ever forgot them but I wasn't going to not fish because of it lol

The front of the flip flop hit the oyster, slid down to the base of the shell which exposed my toe, and it landed right on top.
yodaddi
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Re: Oyster Shell Injury Dangers

Post by yodaddi »

happened to me at 8 mile road this past April. getting off my PA, tripped on my anchor line as i was getting out. my momentum carried out of my kayak and my right hand landed on some oyster shells. i bled profusely also. luckily i had a hand towel and some bottled water at that moment to keep it clean and controlled temporarily. ended up w 6-7 stitches on my right palm and a tetanus shot. live and learn.
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