Hello Everyone I read the above posts and found them to be very informative. About 3 weeks ago I was pronged by a rose thorn, in the knuckle of my middle finger the thorn went very deep. The next morning the finger was extremely swolen and I barely could bend it. I was on a course of anti-biotics so I thought that I was safe. After a couple of days the swelling went down and it seemed to do alright. Now 2-3 weeks later the joint is extremely painfull and bending my finger is getting more difficult. Also it seems that there is pain radiating up my arm to my elbow. I had tennis elbow (why they called it that, I will never know), it should be called screaming pain elbow:) Never the less it seems that the T.E has gone away but the radiating pain is still on going. No red lines up the arm. Any advice? Sincerely, Arieden

The issue as I perceive it, is that the this skin condition has yet to be successfully treated. I would expect the doc to refer out to the next level of specialist if he has yet to successfully clear up the condition or often a patient out of desperation gets fed up, stops looking for treatment or hopefully seeks out a specialist who has greater experience or education. I'm concerned S. may have gotten caught in this. I want her to be proactive for herself and continue to seek out answers. With a condition that is so challenging, docs doing lots of research (medical schools) or infectious disease docs often see very challenging issues are likely going to be the best to identify what is going on. Dermatologists though good, do not necessarily have the exposure to very challenging issues. I don't want S to get frustrated and stop seeking treatment. I am hoping to get her seeking the very, most successful medical help possible. I believe she can call the offices to explain her issue to see if the offices feel prepared to treat. If so, she can go back to Derm doc and ask for a referral to a particular office. Patient's often don't know where to begin and don't know the next steps to get the help needed. Not all specialists see all the very challenging conditions out there but don't necessarily want to say " I'm stumped". That's why a patient needs to be highly proactive for themselves and it is amazing that when a patient needs help and seeks it out from top docs, the pathways can be made smooth for the patient to get the help needed. I want S to push forward to get the help she needs, even if she needs to be pushy. I want her to fight for herself as we all should. That's not an attack.

I got one time a blackberry thorn in the middle of my palm and it all went into bumps and I went to clinic to get it checked over and I do get a tetanus shot every year and you all should especially gardners. It really blew up on me and I went back to clinic and got a different doctor and I said it is almost like shingles the way it looks and she startled and said no, I said no too. It took like a month for it to dry up and I also kept it clean too and taped a gauze bandaid on it. The first doctor told me its totally different from garden blackberry thorns to wild blackberry thorns and I got the worst and it also took forever to work itself out too. I would go in and get it checked out plus a tetanus shot too. Keep it clean and see what doctor tells you.

Oh my gosh! Funny this comes up now. A few weeks ago...maybe two...I went out to feed the feral hogs I have. Piggy Sue tried to crowd me and knocked me down and I fell into the trough, which was an old water tank cut down the side. I ended up butt in the trough with two feral sows standing over me. I felt lucky that Piggy Lee didn't try to disembowel me because she is very moody. Anyway, my crocs got knocked off...and my husband had cut back a Seven Sisters rose that grew there, and a rose cane stuck between my little toe and the toe next to it. I pulled it out and managed to get up. It was sore for a few days and then felt hot. It is still sore...and I couldn't figure it out. I am so stiff because my knee on that side is so bad, I can't bend it very well, so I can't get a good look at it. I couldn't understand why it was still hurting me so much after such a long time. I guess I will need to investigate this more! Thanks for posting about it!