i think i have an abscess

[strength and honor]

hey fellas,  i'm almost 100% sure that i have an abscess on my left middle delt dead.  i think it's a sterile abscess, not a septic one.  There is no redness, no fever, and pretty much no tenderness.  i've been using test 400 and deca 300.  i've been good about rotating my injections...my other shoulder and my thighs seem ok, it's just my left delt.  there is a hard lump on the middle, id say about the size of a gumball or golfball.  looking back i should of realized the warning signs...it was much harder to push down the plunger on that shoulder than on other places and the lump had been forming for a while, but i just attributed to the t400 causing swelling.  anyways, last night i stuck in a 23gx1in pin and aspirated...trying to see if there was pus/blood/oil in there.  sure enough i was able to pull out about 1.5cc of light brownish/yellow fluid.  there is still a lot more in there.  i am going to see the doctor this coming week, but i would like someone who has experienced this to give me some advice, or tell me what i can expect.  i really don't want a permanent lump of scar tissue, but i also don't want to have to be out of the gym for 3-4 weeks, so it can drain.  anyone with some experience with this please give me some advice.  thanks,
                                              -strength

[Arnold jr]

If you use gear there is always going to be a chance of this happening. If you use bullshit like t400, you increase the risk 10x.

Guys, if you will stick to human grade test, 90% of your gear related problems will go away.

S&H as for your deal. I had one of these on my right glute about 3years ago..thinking about it, I can't believe it was that long ago. Anyway, the lump was the size of a small volleyball, no shit. It was huge, hard as a rock and very red...no fever though.

I drained it every day standing in my shower...I used an 18g 1'1/2" needle and would drain typically 3 spots, 4 if I could take more...would typically pull out 9-10cc of white/yellow puss...did this for 2wks, took aspirin daily and sat in the hot tub when I could. Eventually it went away. Now I stopped draining it after 2wks but it took a good month for my leg to feel right.

I would not drain it anymore if I were you. In retrospect I shouldn't have drained mine, cause I am lucky I didn't make it much worse by doing so. Go to the DR and get an antibiotic or just wait it out. If it's not hot, if you don't have a fever, you may easily be able to just wait it out.

[Omega]

Augmentine.

[DIVISION]

Guys, if you will stick to human grade test, 90% of your gear related problems will go away.

Correct!   



DIV

[GetBigOrDieTrying]

Augmentine.

Correct!

[Rimbaud]

Augmentine.

Keflex.

[Alex23]

Keflex.

If there is one juicer than knows, it's this one

[freakfestMD]

Keflex.

Keflex (cephalexin) is usually a good choice, at about 500mg every 6 hours for an averaged sized bodybuilder.

Remember, though, that it will not cover MRSA (methicillin-resistant staph aureus).  That could require something like clindamycin or even levaquin.  The bugs are getting stronger these days, and for sure if your infection came from contaminated gear that was stirred up in some old toilet in China you could be infected with just about anything.

Best not to treat an abcess on your own, I think.

[Rimbaud]

Keflex (cephalexin) is usually a good choice, at about 500mg every 6 hours for an averaged sized bodybuilder.

Remember, though, that it will not cover MRSA (methicillin-resistant staph aureus).  That could require something like clindamycin or even levaquin.  The bugs are getting stronger these days, and for sure if your infection came from contaminated gear that was stirred up in some old toilet in China you could be infected with just about anything.

Best not to treat an abcess on your own, I think.

Keflex destroys my stomach. 

[4thAD]

Keflex (cephalexin) is usually a good choice, at about 500mg every 6 hours for an averaged sized bodybuilder.

Remember, though, that it will not cover MRSA (methicillin-resistant staph aureus).  That could require something like clindamycin or even levaquin.  The bugs are getting stronger these days, and for sure if your infection came from contaminated gear that was stirred up in some old toilet in China you could be infected with just about anything.

Best not to treat an abcess on your own, I think.

Listen to this advice! Dont risk life and limb on self treating these things.

[Rimbaud]

Keflex (cephalexin) is usually a good choice, at about 500mg every 6 hours for an averaged sized bodybuilder.

Remember, though, that it will not cover MRSA (methicillin-resistant staph aureus).  That could require something like clindamycin or even levaquin.  The bugs are getting stronger these days, and for sure if your infection came from contaminated gear that was stirred up in some old toilet in China you could be infected with just about anything.

Best not to treat an abcess on your own, I think.

Agreed. I know someone who spent about ten days in the hospital because of an abcess - they tried to self treat it with fish antibiotics for a week. Ended up having surgery.

[RDW]

hey fellas,  i'm almost 100% sure that i have an abscess on my left middle delt dead.  i think it's a sterile abscess, not a septic one.  There is no redness, no fever, and pretty much no tenderness.  i've been using test 400 and deca 300.  i've been good about rotating my injections...my other shoulder and my thighs seem ok, it's just my left delt.  there is a hard lump on the middle, id say about the size of a gumball or golfball.  looking back i should of realized the warning signs...it was much harder to push down the plunger on that shoulder than on other places and the lump had been forming for a while, but i just attributed to the t400 causing swelling.  anyways, last night i stuck in a 23gx1in pin and aspirated...trying to see if there was pus/blood/oil in there.  sure enough i was able to pull out about 1.5cc of light brownish/yellow fluid.  there is still a lot more in there.  i am going to see the doctor this coming week, but i would like someone who has experienced this to give me some advice, or tell me what i can expect.  i really don't want a permanent lump of scar tissue, but i also don't want to have to be out of the gym for 3-4 weeks, so it can drain.  anyone with some experience with this please give me some advice.  thanks,
                                              -strength

You need to go to a hospital, just go to an ER and explain what happened, they won't care.  We drain abcesses every day for heroin addicts who use dirty needles and can't hit their veins.  They will give you some lidocaine, cut it open, drain it, and dress it.  Come back in about 3 days and they will check on it again and if all is well they will send you on your way with some antibiotics.  Depending on the size they won't even use cyanoacrylate (glue), it would have to be very big for stiches.  The wound will be healed over in a week and training can recommense lightly in 2 weeks, you should be back to normal within a month.  It really isn't a big deal and the doctors honestly aren't going to get on your case.  Just get it done before it gets worse.

Also, as a note:
Make sure you use quality products.
Make sure to swab the vials with alcohol and allow the alcohol to evaporate before inserting the syringe.
Don't breathe on the needle, this is how most bacteria get under the skin.
Absolutely never reuse needles (If you would even consider doing this you are just an idiot)
If you aspirate and get blood, throw out the syringe and the contents and start over - don't try to save a buck.

[4thAD]

You need to go to a hospital, just go to an ER and explain what happened, they won't care.  We drain abcesses every day for heroin addicts who use dirty needles and can't hit their veins.  They will give you some lidocaine, cut it open, drain it, and dress it.  Come back in about 3 days and they will check on it again and if all is well they will send you on your way with some antibiotics.  Depending on the size they won't even use cyanoacrylate (glue), it would have to be very big for stiches.  The wound will be healed over in a week and training can recommense lightly in 2 weeks, you should be back to normal within a month.  It really isn't a big deal and the doctors honestly aren't going to get on your case.  Just get it done before it gets worse.

Also, as a note:
Make sure you use quality products.
Make sure to swab the vials with alcohol and allow the alcohol to evaporate before inserting the syringe.
Don't breathe on the needle, this is how most bacteria get under the skin.
Absolutely never reuse needles (If you would even consider doing this you are just an idiot)
If you aspirate and get blood, throw out the syringe and the contents and start over - don't try to save a buck.

Another good post from RDW, thanx for that!

[freakfestMD]

If you aspirate and get blood, throw out the syringe and the contents and start over - don't try to save a buck.

Nice post RDW, with good advice--just one point:

Probably OK to just pull out, hold pressure, then change the needle out and hit a new spot.  It's probably not necessary to discard the whole syringe-full of gear.  A small amount of aspirated blood in the syringe is fine--it should still all be sterile.

[RDW]

Nice post RDW, with good advice--just one point:

Probably OK to just pull out, hold pressure, then change the needle out and hit a new spot.  It's probably not necessary to discard the whole syringe-full of gear.  A small amount of aspirated blood in the syringe is fine--it should still all be sterile.

The problem with this is that the blood, even in small quantities can and will cause the thrombocytes (platelets) to coagulate in the depot.  This can create a small void in the tissue that will become more succeptable to abcess or cyst in the future, while the likelyhood for any real permenant damage is rather small, in my professional opinion, it is better safe, than sorry.

[dustin]

You need to go to a hospital, just go to an ER and explain what happened, they won't care.  We drain abcesses every day for heroin addicts who use dirty needles and can't hit their veins.  They will give you some lidocaine, cut it open, drain it, and dress it.  Come back in about 3 days and they will check on it again and if all is well they will send you on your way with some antibiotics.  Depending on the size they won't even use cyanoacrylate (glue), it would have to be very big for stiches.  The wound will be healed over in a week and training can recommense lightly in 2 weeks, you should be back to normal within a month.  It really isn't a big deal and the doctors honestly aren't going to get on your case.  Just get it done before it gets worse.

Also, as a note:
Make sure you use quality products.
Make sure to swab the vials with alcohol and allow the alcohol to evaporate before inserting the syringe.
Don't breathe on the needle, this is how most bacteria get under the skin.
Absolutely never reuse needles (If you would even consider doing this you are just an idiot)
If you aspirate and get blood, throw out the syringe and the contents and start over - don't try to save a buck.

True that. It's nothing to mess around with. If someone has an abscess then I don't see why they'd risk getting complications over it. Doctors and nurses won't reprimand you. They deal with crackheads all the time and it's your health that is their utmost concern. I'm sure you may get a lecture when you come to, but big whoop. They're not going to take away your birthday.

A buddy of mine had to go to the ER and my mom was his nurse. She knew it was because he was juicing and she didn't care. She doesn't like the fact that we juice, but all things aside - health and safety first. I'd hate to see a brother get complications for something that's easy to avoid. I'd rather lose half a ml or a ml of gear than get an infection. I thought I was getting an abscess from sust one time as I couldn't even move my arm without almost screaming but it went away right before my gf was about to take me to the hospital. Gotta take care of yourself, broski! Stay safe, brothers.

[RHINO2]

Had an abscess in my right thigh last year, at the time i just blamed it on the gear not dispersing from the sight and that it would go away if left, boy was i wrong. Ended up goin up to the hospital and they kept sending me away with different types of penicillen went on for about 4 weeks before eventually one of the A&E surgeons had a look and referred me to the surgery ward the next morn, i ended up havin to get my leg sliced open and the abscess drained, told me i was very lucky as it could have burst at any time causing scepticaemia due to it being that large.

I ended up bein in hospital for 2 weeks as they couldn stitch the wound and had to let it close naturally packing it with gauze and dressing it twice a day, cause it was an open wound the risk of infection was high. Even when i got out i had to attend the GP every day to get the gauze repacked and dressings changed, this went on for about 2 months. Wasn't back training legs for another 2-3 months after that.

Just lettin ya know my experiences, if you think you have anythin at all go get it checked, dont do what i done and save urself alot of hassle and pain, not to be messed about with.

Anyway take care and good luck