After not treating a tiny cut, one woman was petrified to find eight of her fingers turned black.
Mrs. Zhang had reported to have suffered from a small wound while she was doing housework.
The cut was not a major injury — quite the opposite.
The 53-year-old woman from Hubei Province, China, did not even give the cut much attention and was not worried about it growing infected.
But according to Feedy TV reports, two days later the woman realized a bruise appeared around the wound which began to spread.
Her entire left hand (except the thumb and all but the little finger of her right hand) turned black.
Mrs. Zhang was told by her doctor how she had gangrene in only eight of her fingers.
The black hands became very itchy as well as dry, painful and also — numb.
But fortunately, Mrs. Zhang’s symptoms have since improved thanks to following treatment at the hospital.
Doctors do however warn folks that have similar symptoms to seek medical help immediately.
Gangrene happens to a person when body tissue dies and it is caused by a loss of blood supply, most likely due to an underlying illness, injury or infection.
Fingers, toes and limbs are the most often affected.
But gangrene can also happen inside the body — which could damage organs as well as muscles.
If you have an underlying condition that can damage your blood vessels and affect blood flow — like diabetes or hardened arteries — your chances of developing gangrene are higher according to Mayo Clinic.
To treat gangrene, surgery is required to remove the dead tissue, along with antibiotics along with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. It should also be noted that recovery is better if gangrene is discovered early and treated as soon as possible.
When gangrene does affect your skin, the symptoms could possibly include the following:
Skin discoloration, ranging from either pale to blue, purple, black, bronze or red, depending on the type of gangrene.
Swelling, with the formation of blisters filled with fluid on the skin.
A clear line between healthy and damaged skin.
Any sudden and/or severe pains, followed by a feeling of numbness.
A foul-smelling discharge leaking from a sore.
Skin that feels either cool or cold to the touch.
If you discover that the affected tissue is either swollen and very painful, and if you have a low-grade fever, you may have a type of gangrene that affects tissues beneath the surface of your skin.
This is called gas gangrene or internal gangrene.
Septic shock can happen if a bacterial infection that originated the spreading of the gangrenous tissue, spreads throughout your body.
You should see a doctor if you believe you have gangrene as it is a serious condition that requires immediate treatment.
If you have consistent and unexplained pain in any area of your body along with any symptoms such as persistent fever, skin changes, foul-smelling discharge or skin that is pale, hard, cold and numb — seeing a doctor may be in your best interest.
And on that note, don’t walk outside barefoot and be sure to keep clean — or you may just contract….GANGRENE. Eeeek!
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