I just (as in a hour ago) cut the shiznit out of the instep of my left foot. The laceration is about 2.5 inches in length, runs almost vertically along my instep and exposes muscle tissue. My wife, who is a medical doctor of the animal variety, looked at it and said: that’s a pretty bad cut, you sliced through the skin and into muscle tissue. She recommened a few stitches and precited 10-14 days to heal. But I, of course, ixnayed the stitches cuz I’m a stubborn bastard.
It hurt like a sumbitch, and I even felt nauseous. especially when she was irrigating it. that fricking hurt.
anyway. no question here. just had to vent a bit. stupid accident: I stepped on the open ring of a three ring binder that was on the floor. watch out for those things. you wouldn’t think that a three ring binder could hurt you. but it can.
With a laceration that size I would definitely get stitches. The wound will heal a LOT faster if you get stitches. Less possibility of infection, or of injury to it. Probably they’ll take them out in one week, so no swimming or running during that time, and then another week of basic recovery. Then you’re good to go. Without stitches it could be much longer even though you may feel like you don’t have to nurse it as much.
Dude, this is serious. Any injury on the foot has a propensity for infection and is difficult to heal. I think you should have had the stitches- it would speed the healing.
The standard wound care stuff applies: Clean, covered, change frequently (the dressing). I would also suggest staying off of it and out of the water as much as is practicable. No swimming for a while.
Do be careful with this. It can go very serious in 12 hours. Keep an eye on the signs of infection. Very serious. Best wishes for you to feel better.
thanks guys for the advice. she strongly recommended stitches. i sugggested she put them in. she looked at me like i was nuts and said she only stitches up four legged beasts.
i just started a new job, and my insurance doesn’t kick in until sept 1. dammit dammit dammit. and i’ve got a 1/2 marathon on sept 17.
youre probably right … i should go down to the urgent care place and have a few stitches put in.
and … i was supposed to start with my new swim coach tomorrow morning for one-on-one sessions. dammit dammit dammit.
I had something similar happen to me last year - a big mother cut on my calf. I was a month out of the pool, two weeks off the bike, three weeks no running. It was super, super frustrating.
The important thing is not to rush it - your body has mechanisms for fixing this stuff, and with medical treatment that can be augmented but you can’t force it. When it is healed, you will know, and then you can recommence.
OK - the bad news: I put incisions in that locations a lot (i.e. to excise midfoot lesions/plantar fibromas). The bottom of the foot definitely needs sutured and will take about 3 WEEKS to heal. 7-10 days is fine on the top of the foot, but not the thicker, plantar skin - sorry. Also, if you cut part of the plantar fascia, it takes about 6 weeks to “scar” back in and will be sore for a while. The medial plantar artery and nerve are in the 3rd layer (under the abductor/flexor brevis muscle you are looking at), so no worries there.
Make sure it is only sutured up with 3-0 of heavier suture (no 4-0 or 5-0 or they will break) and no deeper sutures (just increases scar tissue along the fascia - no need to try to repair the underlying fascia)
Dr Roof – Thanks for your professional advice. I truly appreciate it. The laceration (it’s really more of a rip, with a few ragged edges) is not on the bottom of the foot, but more on the side … about 3 cm or so below my anle bone and 1 cm forward of the ankle bone (towards my toes). It extends down basically vertically and stops about 1 cm before my foot starts to curve towards my heel (sorry I don’t know the medical terminology; and my wife’s no help here as dogs/cats/cattle/bears etc have slightly different “feet”).
The cut is deep, but is not low enough on the foot to threaten the plantar fascia (that was the first thing my wife checked when she examined the cut).
I am going to buck up and get stitches, as everyone else recommended. It seems the wise thing to do.
Running, obviously, is probably a bad idea for a while. What about cycling and swimming? I could wrap it up with a thick bandage and medical tape for cycling and a water proof bandage for swimming (which I would change immediately after)? What do you think?
Thanks again for the wise words of advice. People like you make slowtwitch I nice play to be.
Must have bled quite a bit there, eh? Lots of superficial veins in that area
Well, the sutures probably won’t need to be in quite as long there, but a good 2 weeks for sure with a “ragged” wound. Still no deeper sutures are adviseable. 3-0 or 4-0 sutures would be acceptable here.
No running for about 2 weeks. No swimming (even with the ever popular and never successful “waterproof” bandage) for about 7 days. Wait about 3-4 days after the suturing to cycle (again, this is short since you are a typical, impatient, compulsive excercising triathlete like myself I wouldn’t let the avg Joe in the water or walking much for 2-3 weeks.
I second the recommendation on the stitches and not swimming for a while, but, depending on location, you may only need a few days off the foot. I played rugby (as a loosehead prop) only five days after having minor foot surgery to cut out a piece of a sewing needle that I had stepped on. Lot more pressure on your feet playing prop than running. Had a fantastic match, but that was mostly because it was against Notre Dame, and I’m an Irish Protestant.
I can’t believe that you’d give in and get stitches after the STer’s tell you to. I mean, your wife WHO HAS A MEDICAL DEGREE (who cares if it’s vet) and knows a bit more about cuts than 99% of us told you right off the back to get stitches.
Dude, that is FUNNY SHIZNIT!!! Take the rest time and cruise to REI in Denver. Then go around the corner to a place called “My Brother’s Bar” and have their famous JCB (Jalapeno, Cream Cheese Burger) burger. It’s woorth the trip. Restaurant is awesome and Jack Kerouac wrote about it.
