Don't read this if you are easily grossed out.....I just pulled a worm out of my arm!!!
I have several flea bites and they look just like little red spots that are almost healed, but I thought that one of them was getting infected. Steve took a look at it and declared MRSA. It was starting to hurt pretty bad so I took a charcoal tablet, wet it and taped it to the spot with a bandaid. As the charcoal got dry it felt like it was pinching me and I looked and something white was sticking out. Charcoal draws out toxins and puss and whatever, but I thought it strange that the head was coming out so stiff and firm!! However, I had seen it once before.
On the airplane coming home from Africa Teresa was complaining that one of her bug bites was looking infected and it hurt. I gave her a charcoal tablet and a bandaid and she followed my directions. In an hour or so she came back and said, "look this thing is sticking out". Eventually she pulled it out and thought it was the core of a MRSA infection or something... She has been using an antibiotic cream ever since and it is looking good.
I looked at mine with a magnifying glass and this thing was alive! I called Teresa and told this wasn't MRSA we are dealing with. SO.... Jason, Antionette, Mom, WHAT IN THE WORLD IS IT? It's not a funza. Have you ever seen such a thing? My arm still hurts but not quite so bad. It is red and swollen and the center is a crater that's a little black - maybe from the charcoal. We would like to know what we are dealing with as I have 3 more red spots that I thought were flea bites grown out of proportion. They seem to be going away, so hopefully that is the case.
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Posted by klynnharris on Friday, December 19, 2008 at 05:40 - Link
Oh my goodness! I sincerely hope the other "bites" aren't also worms and I hope you guys find out what they are!
Posted by Jason on Friday, December 19, 2008 at 07:26 - Link
I really don't know. I haven't had one myself and nobody here has talked about them. Maybe you've discovered some new species. Interesting that two of you contracted them. Maybe from lake Malawi?
other worms
Posted by Jason on Friday, December 19, 2008 at 07:36 - Link
There is another sort that is called creeping eruptions. you get this red line under the surface of the skin and here and there it surfaces like a pimple. It is a worm that travels under the skin and every few inches it needs to create a little airhole. I've seen it but never had it. There is also another type that is quite long but it isn't around here. Lots in north Kenya and Sudan. The worm is at least a meter long and is just under the surface of the skin. you when a pimple forms you have to "catch" him by opening up the hole and using tweezers and pull on it a bit. If you pull too hard it breaks off so you just put some tension on it until the worm comes out a little then you take a match stick and twist the worm around the match stick until it is tight and tape it to your arm. The worm will follow the pull and every little while (over several days) you pull more until you get the whole thing out.
In Zambia our dogs used to get a worm under their skin that was fairly small and also in a pimple like bump but bigger - like a boil. when you squeezed it it would pop out and be wiggling around. I have heard of a few people getting that.
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Posted by Kitty on Saturday, December 20, 2008 at 06:55 - Link
Are you sure it wasn't a fly that bit you? I read once that a fly bit a lady and she had to pull out the larva that it left behind. Just a thought. ......yucky for you lol........Kitty
