Staphylococcus

Our club is clear of Staph infections and has been for months now. But watching TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) over the past few weeks was a sad reminder of what happened at our club funnily enough, as it was happening during filming of the show. First of all, Staph infections suck. I had it really bad and so did some, but not all, of my classmates. If you have been reading Got Jits for a while now, you may remember my time doing the Master Cleanse. Well, 2 days into my cleanse, the first red "pimple" like mark showed up on my left forearm. Here is my story...

At first, Staph or Impetigo, shows up as a little dot or pimple. And then becomes 2 or 3 pimple like lesions as the first starts to grow. Then all 3 grow and the area gets red and itchy. As the entire reddened area continues to grow, the center of the break out starts to open up, showing a deep and wet honey colored moisture as the top layer of skin recedes.

By the time you are aware that something is not right, maybe 3 or 4 days later, you get an itch on your jaw. A little bump has appeared where you shave. You attribute it to acne because you have never heard of Staph. Your arm starts to throb and you put Polysporin or maybe even Tea Tree Oil on it. It is time to see a doctor.

By the time you see the doctor, the bumps are all over your neck, where your beard would grow if you let it. The doctor informs you that you have a Staphylococcal infection and that your shaving has caused it to spread from your chin to your neck, in some places bleeding out. Not only that, it may get worse before it gets better. Your arm throbs. Your neck feels dry, but is constantly wet with discharge. And you are no longer allowed to shave. Not even a 1980s turtle neck will save you from the looks of disgust from the people around you.

That was my experience with Staph infection. It really sucked. My pain and suffering was amplified because I thought it was a product of my 3oo calorie a day intake during the Master Cleanse. At this point, I will share my treatment and the expert care in which my Professor sought to quell the outbreak at our club.

Firstly, my doctor put me on a systemic anti-biotic called Flucloxacillin, ingested every day for 6 days. I was also given an Anti-Inflammatory called Hydrocortisone to apply twice daily; this was supposed to weaken the skin, break it down so the wounds would heal faster. After doing a lot of research on Staph, I also added a Triple Antibiotic Ointment to my array of tools to kill the infection. It took around 10 days for the treatment to take effect. 30 days for the wounds to heal. And it has been months since my ordeal and I still have slight discoloration on my arm but my neck shows no trace of the Staph Infection. That is how I dealt with my personal situation.

My Professor, once identifying the beginning of the outbreak immediately took action to protect the un-infected students. He called everyone and asked them if they felt like they had something. If yes, it was time to take a break from training and watch some TV, as well as to go and see a doctor of course. His quick action saved a lot of guys from getting hit and in a few weeks things were back to normal. Our club is also kept very clean which helped keep this incident under a firm control.

The reason I was so descriptive in the beginning of this post was to make sure that if you think you have something to get checked out. Because if you think you have something like Staph, you could easily spread it around. And really, who likes bleeding from the neck? I would have written about this earlier, but the pain was still to close to my heart. Just Kidding. I am posting now because of a quick note in the forum from "FarmBoy", which brought back my entire ordeal. If you got it, good luck. If not, I hope you never get it.

Ous.