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Dog bite finger swelling up in pain two weeks after being bitten?

I was bitten by a small dog just over two weeks ago. It was just my right ring finger, no where on my hand or other fingers. Doctor did not prescribe antibiotics as the wounds (small puncture holes) were not deep. Saw him a few days later for checkup and wounds were healed over and swelling and pain gone from the finger. By the next week the wounds were gone and it was like I'd never been bitten.

But now almost two weeks after last doctor visit my finger has swelled back up and is severely painful, almost worst than before. I can't bend my finger either. I haven't broken my finger, it's not bruised, red, none of the bite wounds are red, no infection of any kind. It basically swelled up over night. I'm out of town and can't go see my doc.

What could be ailing my finger now? Pain meds are barely touching it, and I don't have a fever.

Update:

No I don't have rabies. Dog had all its shots and was quarantined.

Update 2:

Yes doc cleaned wounds. It was five or six tiny puncture holes about a millimeter deep. No foreign objects it was an indoor dog (I am a pet sitter). Not just some stray.

My whole finger is swollen.

2 Answers

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  • 4 years ago

    Did the doctor at least use an antiseptic in dressing the wound? Animal bites are notoriously germy (you don't know where that mouth has been!). However, the wounds did heal externally. I wonder, though whether there was a deeper infection that traveled inwards once the wounds healed. Another possibility is that the bite introduced some tiny foreign object into your finger, and like a splinter working its way out of your body, the soreness can appear long after the injury.

    Read the web page linked below for some tips on what you can do until you have a chance to see a doctor.

  • 4 years ago

    you now have rabies

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