This fungal infection is found in the eastern half of North America, usually in moist soil and decomposing leaves and organic matter, and along waterways. It does appear to be working so far, but oral antifungals are hard on your liver and they can have some not-so-fun side effects. I’m on a 90-day cycle of oral antifungal pills, and I may have to take other medication if this doesn’t work completely. And now I’m hopped on serious drugs, too. Think ringworm-but hopped up on serious drugs. That timeline aligns with the lifecycle of some fungal infections, and the experts suspected I might have had an open cut on my hand that allowed the fungus to infect my hand. I also take a minimum precaution of dragging coyotes with my left hand, in case I end up eating or drinking something with my right hand while I’m out. I remember that coyote hadn’t been the healthiest looking, but nothing had seemed off about it. As I looked through the photos on my phone, I realized that the rash showed up about a week and a half after the last coyote I had shot. As we tried to figure out where I might have contracted the infection, the doctor told me to go through photos on my phone to see if I could determine when the rash appeared. Courtesy Aaron Hibbīut none of us knew how I had gotten the fungal infection. Painful pustules started appearing on Hibb’s hand.
#ROAD RASH INFECTION SKIN#
They biopsied my skin while the pustules were still present using a 5mm hole punch. A couple weeks after that, when the pustules were showing up again, I was lucky enough to get an emergency appointment at OSU dermatology. Luckily, my bloodwork came back negative for Lyme. Courtesy Aaron HibbĪt one point, my doctor thought that perhaps I had gotten Lyme disease from a tick bite, and had put me on antibiotics for that. The initial Rash Hibb contracted on his hand was enough to send him to a dermatologist. When the pustules popped, they would leave holes-open wounds that seemed to eat the flesh around them. They would itch like mad while showing up, and then pop within about 24 hours…and then the open sore would continue to grow and spread. But the rash continued to get worse, and it turned into a big open sore, like infected road rash. The first dermatologist I saw thought it was eczema and gave me a topical steroid (called clobetasol). A couple months back, I started getting a rash on my left hand, on the back of my thumb and the meaty part.