FWIW, I use straight tea tree oil plus antibiotic ointment on sore cuts & scrapes, etc. - most of the remedies I see mentioned (besides the neosporin/peroxide) will alleviate pain, but do nothing to prevent or reduce infection. Tetanus shots are for tetanus & there are numerous other germs that can infect a wound - staph is a biggie & MRSA can be a big concern these days. IME, if a cut gets red & sore, that means infection, & painkillers may make you feel better, but they're not doing anything to fight infection. Best to nip it in the bud & don't allow it to possibly get out of control.Basic First Aid is to wash cuts well w/ soap & water, then dry & treat w/ antibiotic & cover, if appropriate. Open wounds & yardwork don't mix. Just my 2 cents - sorry it's a bit late, HTH....

Today , worst canning or cooking injury ever! i was making the super finiky black cherry syrup. i wanted to make sure it was thick enough to use on waffles. so i turned it up towards the end i am constantly stiring and its full on molten its not just boiling its foaming like crazy . so i start getting it into my jars . after hours of picking, pitting , then stirring i want every last drop! so i tip up the hot pan to scoop out the rest. i dont know what i did if i hit the side of my funnel or what. i feel a huge splotch of it hit my hand and i know immediatly im in trouble. i have burnt myself plenty of times baking , canning with steam usually i just put it in ice water use aloe and im fine. as soon as i put my hand under cold water the boiling hot molten sugar turns hard and brittle and is stuck on my hand . i know it has to come off so im scrubbing and washing and its like my skin liquified. i can see it being pulled off with the now hard candy on my hand. im thinking ohhhh sh*t this is bad but ask my son to grab aloe any tylonal . normally aloe is cooling and might feel sticky but it doesnt hurt. this was insane pain im almost throwubg up it stings so bad. i am looking at my hand and around the area thats burnt with no top layers of skin and is red and pissed its turning white and yellow. i gave up went to the ER. they said omg yah thats bad! so i got some cream and pain meds and have to go back daily for a few days so they can change badages and check its ok. weirdly it hurts some places but others theres no pain at all. where the pain is its super crazy bad. No blister! i think i went passed that. weirdly even non stick hospital grade stuff sticks to it.

Sorry this is long. I found this message thread very interesting because over 3 and a half years ago I was diagnosed with Inflammatory Rheumatoid Arthritis. My doctor said it was 'triggered' by an antibiotic that I was given that I had an allergic reaction to. In one month I went from hiking 8 miles and not breaking a sweat and doing climbing walls to being so disabled with pain and swelling in my feet, hands, my joints ached and sensations in my legs (needed to sleep on my back with legs up on pillows) that I had to get pants with elastic. The doctor told me that I would be disabled and on meds the rest of my life. He could not explain to me sufficiently how this could happen in one month. I refused meds and toughed it out. The first month I felt sorry for myself and was a couch potato. Then I kicked myself and started to read. That was about the only thing I could do. This is what I found out and how I beat my diagnosis. I found that when we reach around the age of 40 our body slowly diminishes it's production of our super antioxidant glutathione. This is a major player in the proper functioning of our immune system and regulates so many body systems that I am not going to list all of them here. The one I am going to mention is that it does regulate the hormones. When this is depleted via the severe immune response that happens when you receive a vaccination the body's cells and gut (80% of our immune system is regulated from there) is no longer protected because of oxidative stress. When the gut is compromised the body absorption of vit. D is diminished. Now another thing to take into consideration is family medical history. Is there allergies or auto-immune disease in the family? If this is true then there is the possibility that there could be any one or more of these factors: 1) defective GSH (glutathione) gene; 2) elevated levels of free floating IgE in the body; 3) increased levels of histamine release from mast cells. These are the most important. Because I found that RA was an auto-immune issue likely caused by my allergic reaction to the anti-biotic I had to deal with the inflammation and find how I could diminish this. First I started with diet. What foods can cause inflammation and eliminate them? I eliminated all processed sugars and went to honey for a start. Then I found what to add to my diet to increase my body production of glutathione (I was 58 at onslaught of RA). I added more fruits and green veggies (increasing my vit C & E). As I researched further I found that whey protein helps intensify the C & E so I started taking a whey suppliment. With the changes in diet initially I saw slow impovement in 1 month. When I added the whey protein I saw improvement in 2 weeks. It took 2 years for my body to heal itself and I was pretty much symptom free and pain free. The only problem I had left was my gut. I believe I had IBS (irritable bowel symdrome). I never went back to the doctor so this is my diagnosis of the symptoms that I had. My gut would feel funny (I called the five minute warning) and I would have to find a bathroom fast. Every store I went to I knew where the restroom was just in case. Further research was done to find out that Autistic children are glutathione deficient and their gut problems diminished after going gluten free. Hummmmm I pondered this for about 1 day and decided to minimize my gluten and test the foods I did eat to see what reactions I would have. I no longer eat standard breads or pastas. I can eat rye bread and one bun with unbleached white bread for my hamburgers. (I love my food, sorry.) I can also eat the pasta that is labeled semolina pasta. Don't understand why but I can but I do not overdo it. I have been reading labels for 2 years now and I am pretty much (money is a little tight) all natural foods, frozen veggies, etc. As of one year ago I am now totally symptom free. Wohoo! My only problem is that I know I will never be 100% ever again. I do have energy level problems so I do everything in moderation. I have to take a power nap every afternoon. I lost 35 - 40 lbs of muscle mass so I can't do some of the strenuous things I used to. But the upside is that my allergic responses to seasonal pollens are next to non-existant. No flu or colds (this was a concern of mine). Over all with my auto-immune issue it is all under control and people are amazed that I ever had RA and was 95% disabled. This is my story. Do your own research. If your doctor will not test for glutathione deficiency (warning: they will not) ask them to test for magnesium deficiency. Glutathione deficiency goes hand in hand with magnesium deficiency. Foot note: Glutathione supplements do not work because the body does not absorb the glutathione. The best way is to get the body to produce more. Here is a link that might be useful: Histamine

Hi twotogo, I also pronate. Unfortunately, the clinic ordered me some custom orthotics and when I got them, they hurt my knees soooo much. They made the orthotics to make me have perfect feet, and they didn't work because I don't have perfect knees too. What a waste of money. Do you have orthotics or just new shoes? If your shoes/orthotics don't hurt your legs, I would keep wearing them. it may take awhile for them to help you. Here's the exercises they gave me to strengthen my knee: 1)Sit on side of bed and lift leg with 5-10# weights on them. Do about 15, several times a day. Sit on floor with legs outstretched and lift one leg at a time, holding for about 10 seconds. Do this about 10 times several times a day. (I sit in a chair with my leg on a coffee table). There's no getting down on the floor for me! There were others, but these seemed to strengthen me the most. Another important thing I learned was to try to never limp. It can really throw other parts of you out of whack. Does it help with the pain, if you walk slowly ....heal-toe, heal-toe? That helped me. I always thought pain was a signal that something was wrong, but according to my doc and physical therapist, it doesn't always mean that. And you have to work through it. When I was recovering from my knee surgery last year, I was having a heck of a time. I would get a horrible pain in my knee with each step. I finally realized that I wasn't walking right. I slowed down, started each step on my heel and followed through, and the pain disappeared almost immediately! Sorry for rambling. I hope you can get some relief. Its good that you are strengthening your knees now, in case you do have surgery......you will be ahead of the game afterwards. Good luck!