Last week my husband had an accident with a skill saw, and his toe was sliced open.
I had a brief look and this was not something I could deal with. A cloth nappy made a decent temporary bandage and before leaving for the Doctors I grabbed the Arnica and the Hypericum and gave him a couple of doses of each.
Ringing ahead to the doctors had them usher us to a room on arrival where he saw first a nurse, who cleaned it, and then a Doctor. We were fortunate, it didn’t get the bone and a trip to hospital was not required.
He was offered a tetanus vaccination- we declined. This was a clean cut with a brand new saw blade, and it bled profusely, so risk of tetanus was low. Tetanus is an anaerobic bacteria and is most at risk in puncture wounds or similar, that have not been cleaned, and do not bleed a lot. Tetanus dropped significantly when nurses started routinely cleaning wounds before dressing them. However, as a precaution (and to aid healing) he did supplement with liposomal vitamin C for several days after the accident. Vitamin C supplementation also reduces risks of tetanus.
The Doctor also recommended antibiotics and wrote a prescription for them and some painkillers. He took the painkillers for the first day or two, but not the antibiotics. Instead we used homeopathic remedies as a preventative measure as well as to aid healing.
Straight after we got home he started taking Arnica, Hypericum, Gun Powder and Pyrogen, every few hours. He also had a Homeobotanical trauma remedy which he initially took every 15 minutes until the pain reduced. Under medical advice he lay on the couch with his foot elevated.
Arnica is a good remedy for any trauma or injury, although most well known for bruising. It helps with shock as well as the prompt healing of injuries.
Hypericum is for injuries to nerves and areas rich in nerves. It helps with acute nerve pain, and also with healing of deep wounds.
Gun Powder is a antiseptic and promotes healing of wounds, as well as supporting the body to deal with infections.
Pyrogen is a remedy for septic states and more severe infections.
The photo in the comments (so as to avoid traumatising people who would prefer not to see) was taken several hours after the incident when the dressing needed to be changed. The second photo was taken the next day, and was a huge difference. The toe continued to improve rapidly and quickly looks now like it hadn’t been as severe as it was.
At the end of the second day I removed he Pyrogen from our homeopathic line up of remedies, and added Calendula, to promote regrowth of the skin on the surface. Caution here with Calendula internally or topically, for deeper than surface wounds it should be combined with Hypericum so that it does not heal on the surface but leave a deeper wound underneath.
As for me, I took Aconite for the shock. Rescue remedy would have been helpful but I couldn’t find it at the time. Later I was tearful and not coping, and Pulsatilla helped me come back to myself.
Picture is of the deck he was building. Photo of toe that afternoon and the next evening is below.
