A week ago I had my hand mauled by a dog at work. When it happened, all I could do was clutch my hand with my other and hold it to my chest because strangely, it felt as if my hand would fall off if I didn’t and I’m not really sure why. Immediately after the bite i could not feel my middle and ring finger and there was a very strong numb and tingly sensation that went up my entire arm. Even though I didn’t have sensation in those fingers, it was still painful in a way that I don’t know how to explain. I had a feeling that this was going to be bad even though I never looked at the wound (I have a very strong vasovagal response to human things, I still passed out afterwards even without looking at it lol.) Went to urgent care pretty soon afterwards and they cleaned my wound and sent me home with antibiotics. In just a few hours my hand began to swell significantly, very hot to the touch, and horrible pain radiating up all the way up my arm. I was so dizzy and nauseated. I went to the ER where they pretty much just hooked me up to IV antibiotics and sent me home with instructions to continue the oral antibiotics. It was not a pleasant experience as they dismissed my concerns the whole time and treated me like I was being dramatic. I was pretty certain the infection was not going to get better from that alone and boy was I right. The swelling and redness progressed, I was cold and clammy, could not stop vomiting, the list goes on. I go back to the ER a second time and finally the started to take me seriously. I ended up needing surgery because the infection was deep in my tendons and that’s why the antibiotics weren’t working. They also had to repair my median nerve in my middle finger as it had been severed during the bite(s). I was told that if I hadn’t had surgery to clear the infection that I probably would have lost my middle finger and potentially my entire hand. After a week I’m finally beginning to regain sensation and some mobility in my middle finger. Moral of the story is, getting bit is a big deal and you should take it seriously even if the wounds are superficial.