Infections

chrisdonkey

Barefooters
Aug 26, 2011
21
0
0
#1
Hello there everyone!

OK, ive worked up to about 3 mile a week barefoot - mostly running around a local Rugby pitch - This week i have developed an infection on my big toe. Went to Docs, got anti-biotic etc But he was pretty useless about suggesting how i got it - so heres my question - is ti likely i got this from barefoot runing? Is it just a coincidence? or myabe i got it from teh swiimming pool?



Now, i know, no one will know excatly how i got this - i suppose what im looking to know is this - barefoot running - prone to infections?



Cheers!



Chris D
 
#4
BFR isn't really an activity

BFR isn't really an activity prone to these types of events. Infections from puncture wounds, perhaps. Infection is a general term. Infection of what? What does it look like? Is there any place on the foot that looks like a point of penetration even though you may not have felt it? I suppose it could have been some sort of microb but it still would have had to enter your body some how.



Careful with those anti-biotics; (especially when prescribed with "I don't know what caused it" statement) it's much like driving a truck thru a wall when you only want a small hole for that new fangled wall socket you just bought. If it works for you, be sure to take some pro-biotics afterwards to rebuild your body's helpful bacteria.
 
#5
Just my two cents worth, I

Just my two cents worth, I have been BFR for 18 months in numerous different environments including mud, gravel, water etc. and have not had any issues with infections. Even with the limited amount of small puncture wounds that I have received, no issues on this end (cross my toes that it stays that way ;-) )
 
#6
This is a good one for

This is a good one for Longboard; hope he finds this thread.

I understand you can get foot infections much easier from nasty, sweathy, bacteria-infested shoes.

I have never had a foot infection, and I've been running over three years barefoot now.

And I can definitely attest to taking probiotics with the antibiotics. Great advice right there!
 
#7
I've been perpetually BF

I've been perpetually BF since Sept 2009 (with the exceptions of insulation when necessary from cold-wet Winter and the hottest mid-day summer pavement runs) and have yet to get any infections. I haven't gotten cuts or punctures either, other than a small number of minor splinters. Being mindful of what your feet are touching is paramount.
 
#8
Ah, yes!  There's more to

Ah, yes! There's more to this one than meets the eye! I'm clueless as to what that might be, but I'm sure there's more to it.

I am curious about the nature of the infection too. Is it cuticle or out in the middle of the foot? Sole, top or intra-digital? Associated with a cut, punture, abrasion, or irritation?
 
#9
Barefoot TJ wrote:This is a

Barefoot TJ said:
This is a good one for Longboard; hope he finds this thread.
Click to expand...



Of course anyone can get an infection of some sort whether shod or bare, but TJ is probably recalling when we discussed that if you step on a nail and get a puncture wound you'd better hope you were barefoot rather than shod at the time.

The bacteria from the shoe being introduced deep into the wound is the more serious infection when compared to whatever was merely on the surface of the bare sole.

How could I NOT find the thread? I'm using "Recent Forum".

Thanks again TJ and MM!
 
#10
The infection was along the

The infection was along the edge of my big toe nail. An initital swelling,looked a lot like a blister. Sensitive to the touch. Then it burst. Yellow puss. Clearing now. Yeah, my doctor is rubbish. No explaination - "here take an anti-biotic and leave me alone" Have been taking them reluctantly.



Tell me more on pro-biotics - never heard of them!
 
#11
was it maybe an infection

was it maybe an infection from an ingrown toenail? hard to diagnose things over the internet especially when it's not your proffession in real life. um, i also thought public pools were breeding areas for bacteria? or am i thinking of hot tubs, saunas, and showers?



probiotics are friendly bacteria that help you digest food. you have both good and bad bacteria in your gut. too much bad, you get sick. more good than bad and you won't get sick, much. you can buy capsules, eat fermented foods, yogurt, kefir, sour kraut, pickles, kim chee. you can also eat more uncooked veggies and fruit.



antibiotics work like a shot gun. they kill anything in their path. that's why they were telling you to get some probiotics. without any good bacteria the bad can grow quickly with no one there to keep them inline.



i hope my simple explaination helped.



Mike
 
#12
Donk:I think Mike has

Donk:

I think Mike has nailed this one - sounds like my experience with several minorly ingrown toenails.

I have run through everything, and I've had a few minor cuts and punctures (pine cones, very small sharp rocks, squirrel-shredded acorn fragments, etc.), but no infections. I just slap some neosporin anti-bacterial ointment on the spot for a couple days when I have it handy.
 
#13
I agree with Mike and Phil.

I agree with Mike and Phil. Its the only foot infections I've ever had. I get them if I wear dress shoes without socks for too long. I find it bizarre he gave you antibiotics for it unless it was really really bad. Normally so long as you clean it and take care of it it goes away without them. He probably just figured it would make you go away faster.
 
#14
Were I you, I would cease

Were I you, I would cease taking the antibiotics and just monitor the infection. Apply topical anti-biotic cream as suggested. It shouldn't require draining more than once coupled with the cream. If it doesn't seem to lessen in redness and sensitivity, or becomes chronic, you'll have to have the side of the nail trimmed down. If possible you can try trimming off the offensive piece of nail yourself but it wasn't very effective for me.

When I was a in my late teens, I had to have both sides of my big nails trimmed twice. When the podiatrist pulled out the nail chunk; it looked like a little hook that was borrowing into the toe. No wonder it hurt so damn much! Even with the toe numbed I could feel some small relief once that thing was removed, like pressure had been released.
 
#15
VERY IMPORTANT about

VERY IMPORTANT about probiotics!

If you purchase probiotics (like acidophilus ) be sure to get them from your local herb shop's frigerator. Don't buy that garbage they try to sell you at the pharmacy. In order to be effective the probiotic has to be kept in the refrigerator, since it contains living microorganisms; therefore, it should be bought from a refrigerator. The stuff off the shelf and pruchased through the Internet won't do anything for you and is just a big waste of your time and money.



Temperature

The temperature at which probiotic organisms grow is an important factor in food applications where fermentation is required, is also a critical factor influencing probiotic survival during manufacture and storage. As it is told above, the lower the temperature the more stable probiotic viability in the food product will be. During processing, temperatures over 45–50°C will be detrimental to probiotic survival, this means that the higher the temperature, the shorter the time period of exposure required to severely decrease the numbers of viable bacteria, ranging from hours or minutes at 45–55°C to seconds at higher temperatures. Therefore it is obvious that probiotics should be added downstream of heating/cooking/pasteurization processes in food manufacture to avoid the high temperatures. Elevated temperature also has a detrimental effect on stability during the product process of shipping and storage. Again, the cooler a product can be maintained, the better probiotic survival will be, like in vegetative probiotic cells in liquid products, where refrigerated storage is usually essential. If the product is dried, the bacteria will be in a quiescent state, so acceptable probiotic viability can be maintained in dry products stored at ambient temperatures for 12 months or more. Producing and maintaining low water activities in the foods is the key to maintaining probiotic viability during nonrefrigerated storage because there is a remarkable interaction between temperature and water activity.

Read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probiotics

Read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactobacillus_acidophilus
 
#16
I had to take antibiotics a

I had to take antibiotics a couple months ago to treat lymes disease. The pro-biotics I started taking to replenish the good bacteria was in yogurt. Now I have yogurt (plain, either Stoneyfield or Dannon) everyday and, add fruit myself to counter the sour flavor. I avoid any yogurt that comes with sweeteners or fruit already in it. I don't remember the exact specifics but, I think I read that yogurt which has sweeteners or fruit already in it nullifies the beneficial effect of the probiotics.



Chrisdonkey, I agree with the suggestions of ceasing and desisting the antibiotics you've been prescribed. Antibiotic cream is in order for your problem. I might also consider switching to a different doctor for future medical needs.
 
#17
I'm rather anti- antibiotics

I'm rather anti- antibiotics in general, but since you've started taking them you need to finish them. Stopping antibiotics mid course is one of the things (combined with over prescribing in the first place of course) that got us into the mess with things like MRSA. Always finish your antibiotics unless you are having some terrible terrible side effect. We are really getting low on good antibiotics and only have a couple left in our arsenal that our little bacteria foe haven't started adapting to. You'd be surprised how hard those things are to develop and since there isn't actually much profit in it the drug companies don't do a ton of development on them anymore. But yeah next time I wouldn't take them at all. Let your body fight them off if at all possible.
 
#18
ajb422 wrote:I'm rather

ajb422 said:
I'm rather anti- antibiotics in general, but since you've started taking them you need to finish them. Stopping antibiotics mid course is one of the things (combined with over prescribing in the first place of course) that got us into the mess with things like MRSA. Always finish your antibiotics unless you are having some terrible terrible side effect. We are really getting low on good antibiotics and only have a couple left in our arsenal that our little bacteria foe haven't started adapting to. You'd be surprised how hard those things are to develop and since there isn't actually much profit in it the drug companies don't do a ton of development on them anymore. But yeah next time I wouldn't take them at all. Let your body fight them off if at all possible.
Click to expand...



I'm rather anti-medical establishment. I don't appriciate the way things are run nor the focus on profit over health and well being; so I hear ya.

However, I don't follow. What have you experienced to make you say something like that? What is the difference between stopping the perscription now and allowing it to run it's course? Especially considering that it was prescribed in ignorance of what caused the infection nor any consideration for the locality of the infection.



Nothing I've ever read or experienced even implies that cutting off a 'script of ABs is harmful.
 
#19
Nyah wrote:I had to take

Nyah said:
I had to take antibiotics a couple months ago to treat lymes disease. The pro-biotics I started taking to replenish the good bacteria was in yogurt. Now I have yogurt (plain, either Stoneyfield or Dannon) everyday and, add fruit myself to counter the sour flavor. I avoid any yogurt that comes with sweeteners or fruit already in it. I don't remember the exact specifics but, I think I read that yogurt which has sweeteners or fruit already in it nullifies the beneficial effect of the probiotics.



Chrisdonkey, I agree with the suggestions of ceasing and desisting the antibiotics you've been prescribed. Antibiotic cream is in order for your problem. I might also consider switching to a different doctor for future medical needs.
Click to expand...

Oops! In that final sentence I meant YOU, Chrisdonkey, might want to consider switching to a different doctor for your future medical needs. My point was that internal antibiotics can be a suitable solution for debilitating, life-altering problems such as lymes disease but not for relatively topical maladies such as an ingrown toenail.
 
#20
Think about how antibiotics

Think about how antibiotics work. They kill off the germs. The germs that are particularly suscecptible to the antibiotic die early. However, there will be some with genetic differences that will let them resist the antibiotic for a while.

If you stop the antibiotic early, the germs that are left are the ones that have some resistance to that antibiotic. So they will multiply (and also diverge genetically, producing some offspring even more resistant to the antibiotic).

So your infection comes back from these partially resistant germs, and with some new germs that are more resistant. So, the antibiotic doesn't work so well this time. If you keep this up, you can develop strains of germs that are completely resistant to the antibiotic.

That's how strains such as MRSA (google it) came to be.
 
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