Sometimes you have to learn the hard way about gear for training

[HopetonBrown]

I don't get the dissing of $200 ear pro.

[LittleLebowski]

I don't get the dissing of $200 ear pro.

It's nothing personal; I just fail to see the $150 worth of improvement over my Howard Leights.

[pax]

I think there's a fundamental difference between scorning tactical dress-up clothes and failing to wear simple safety equipment.

Good lessons there.

pax

[LittleLebowski]

I think there's a fundamental difference between scorning tactical dress-up clothes and failing to wear simple safety equipment.

Good lessons there.

pax

Thank you, pretty much what I was aiming for

[SecondsCount]

It's nothing personal; I just fail to see the $150 worth of improvement over my Howard Leights.

I kind of feel the same way but as my Leights got older, the foam cups got hard and uncomfortable. A couple months ago I lost them, thinking that I dropped them while leaving the range so now I am shopping for something new. I picked up a set of low end Sport Ears for my wife earlier this year, the volume knobs are kind of cheesy but they are really comfortable.

[Sensei]

I just went back through my treatment because I thought you would be interested. In order:

1. Bactrim.
2. Nafcillin
3. Vancomycin (2 grams)
4. Zyvox (the only one that worked).

The Zyvox cost me $15

Overall, that antibiotic regimen is fairly typical except for the nafcillin which has fallen out of favor due to MRSA. The real question I have is when did you have the first aspiration performed? That is the definitive treatment. Unfortunately, I see far too many people with abscesses and septic bursitis who come to me worsening on antibiotics. That is because the primary treatment of these conditions is adequate drainage (via generous incision for abscesses or serial aspiration for bursitis). No antibiotic, including Zyvox, would be effective without drainage.

To put things in perspective, anyone who comes to me with a red, swollen joint after trauma is going to get a needle one way or the other on the first visit. The definitive test for all bad joint infections mandates a fluid sample. I may put an ultrasound probe over the bursa to look for a drainable fluid collection in cases such as yours that are classic due the the prominent swelling over the bursa. However, if there is no fluid in the bursa, I'm going after the more serious condition which is pus in the actual joint - septic arthritis. Any bacteria in the actual joint is BAAAD juju and generally gets washed out in the OR.

The bottom line is that non-surgeons need to get over their own fear of needles and knives so that patients such as you do not suffer a delay in definitive therapy.

[LittleLebowski]

Overall, that antibiotic regimen is fairly typical except for the nafcillin which has fallen out of favor due to MRSA. The real question I have is when did you have the first aspiration performed?

Not until after the Zyvox. Two ER visits and one regular doctor visit failed to result in anyone medically qualified aspirating it. I changed doctors after the Zyvox and he aspirated it twice.

[LittleLebowski]

Sensei, my infectious diseases doc brother in law said the same about early treatment and aspiration/testing. I'm relaying your words to him.

[Tamara]

Not until after the Zyvox. Two ER visits and one regular doctor visit failed to result in anyone medically qualified aspirating it. I changed doctors after the Zyvox and he aspirated it twice.

*scribbles unqualified layperson's guess about Sensei's response and stuffs it in envelope*
*waits patiently to see how good her guess was*

[PPGMD]

Overall, that antibiotic regimen is fairly typical except for the nafcillin which has fallen out of favor due to MRSA. The real question I have is when did you have the first aspiration performed? That is the definitive treatment. Unfortunately, I see far too many people with abscesses and septic bursitis who come to me worsening on antibiotics. That is because the primary treatment of these conditions is adequate drainage (via generous incision for abscesses or serial aspiration for bursitis). No antibiotic, including Zyvox, would be effective without drainage.

To put things in perspective, anyone who comes to me with a red, swollen joint after trauma is going to get a needle one way or the other on the first visit. The definitive test for all bad joint infections mandates a fluid sample. I may put an ultrasound probe over the bursa to look for a drainable fluid collection in cases such as yours that are classic due the the prominent swelling over the bursa. However, if there is no fluid in the bursa, I'm going after the more serious condition which is pus in the actual joint - septic arthritis. Any bacteria in the actual joint is BAAAD juju and generally gets washed out in the OR.

The bottom line is that non-surgeons need to get over their own fear of needles and knives so that patients such as you do not suffer a delay in definitive therapy.

As I am reading this I am thinking about an abscess I had a couple of years ago that I drained myself.

When I went to the doctor her response was "Draining it was the proper treatment, but doing it yourself with a leatherman wasn't the best idea."