Hand injuries and animal bites: a risk of complications

When you reached out to touch your neighbor’s pet, you didn’t expect it to bite. It always appeared friendly. Unfortunately, it was not as friendly as it seemed, and you now have a significant hand injury as a result.

Bites to the hands are common. They can cause a lot of pain and frustration, especially because they are more likely to become infected than bites to some other areas of the body.

What should you do if you’re bitten on the hand?

Bites to the hand can be complex. Your hands have many moving parts, ligaments, tendons, bones and muscles. If there is a puncture wound, the debris and bacteria could be pushed far down into your hand, making it hard to clean the wound.

If you are bitten on the hand, you need to seek medical attention to be on the safe side. You don’t want to risk infection.

What are some signs of a possible infection?

These include:

• Redness
• Swelling
• Pain lasting longer than 24 hours
• Drainage from the wound site
• Night sweats
• Shakes
• Red streaks running up the forearm or arm
• Swollen glands

If you start to develop these symptoms and haven’t yet been to a medical provider, you need to go right away. If you are already receiving care, call them or go to the hospital for a secondary exam since an infection could be starting or spreading.

With early medical attention, many animal bites are able to be treated successfully with little chance of complications. If you are dealing with medical bills, you may want to talk with an attorney about your options for seeking compensation for expenses and damages.