My guess is a sweat-rash from being covered, mixed with dry skin from hand sanitiser and climbing chalk.
I’m not a doctor, but my money is on rash, not allergic reaction.
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Yeah but… a flexNExT-shaped rash?
You’re probably right: it probably is a rash. But my money is on the implant irritating the skin underneath, what with tendon movements and all.
The skin might be more sensitive there?
Keep us updated please, if that’s okay for you!
Might very well be that, but better safe than sorry…
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Could be. Could be too early for intense exercise too. I ain’t no doctor so I couldn’t tell you 
But please do tell what your doc says when you get back.
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Doc gave me cortisone, if it’s better tommorow it must be the tape and if it’s worse it must be the implant.
She couldn’t explain that though
Wish you all the best! Hope it goes away fast… cortisone should help within a day or two, if it’s just a rash
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Reminds me a mild staph infection - red, blotchy and itchy. Hope the cortisol works for you~ keep us updated.
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Oh no! Hope it gets better. I’m a climber too, and that’s a big reason I ultimately didn’t end up going with the flexNExT in the back of the hand,
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yeah… it came to my mind as well. Staph inside the deep tissue would be real bad, but doesn’t usually present in this way (on the skin)… staph infiltrating the skin itself isn’t as bad but could lead to problems.
Eczema and topical dermatitis are both related to staph infiltration… @Az_F do you have issues with eczema or TD? If so, there may be an issue with your skin that basically means it’s always at war with Staphylococcus aureus … which means any loss of skin integrity could result in flourishing of the bacteria and issues with rashes, itching, flare-ups, etc.
One of my kids had terrible really bad eczema and we learned a lot about it… for one it’s a syndrome, meaning it’s a group of symptoms and causes that present similarly but it’s not all really understood all that well. The one thing we did learn that made sense was that a typical reason staph is able to literally get under our skin, is that the skin of people with recurring or chronic eczema has “little holes in it”… as the doctor put it… basically weak points where the bacteria can get through into the deeper layers of the dermis and set up shop, causing a reaction from the body and a war to kick off.
The irritation of the skin due to the procedure is one thing, but since this didn’t seem to occur until after climbing, I would posit the following issues are a potential cause of a staph infiltration;
- going climbing stretched and worked the skin above the implant
- the skin above the implant has a reduced blood flow from the severing of capillaries, somewhat stressing it from lower levels of oxygen, gluose, etc.
- the timing of the climb did not allow enough angiogenisis to occur yet to properly supply the dermal tissue above the implant
I would take the time to be very careful with your hand for the next couple weeks. Apply the hydrocortisone as prescribed, but if it’s not changing in a few days or getting worse, ask to upgrade to triamcinolone acetonide, and couple your applications of triamcinolone with vanicream an hour after applying the triamcinolone. Vanicream moisturizer (not the soap or bar or other stuff) is what worked with our kiddo… a doc said basically it helps close up those holes in the skin that staph slip through. Don’t use vaseline or other stuff that will basically seal in the staph.
Of course, if it continues it might be time to consider removal. Some might suggest a round of antibiotics to quell a possible infection from the installation, but that is only a call your doc should be making.
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To be honest, vanicream consists largely of petrolatum, which might seal stuff in as well… but if it worked for your kid, that’s fine. Having issues with atopical eczema myself, but luckily, until now no bodymod has had any problems with that… one thing that’s always a problem for me are plasters, I get red and itchy skin below them after just a couple of days. So the taped bandage used while climbing might lead to similar effects (at least it would for me)…
To be honest, I’m really curious how this will look tomorrow… getting mine in in about a week and I’d like to see how this goes out first…^^
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It was suggested by Dr. Richard Aron and the combo really worked… at least for our kiddo. For 2 years she was scratching herself bloody almost every night… it was a nightmare… face, hands, arms, legs, crotch, all the pits (armpits, back of the knees, elbows, etc.) … we started this process and in a couple days of very regimented application we saw a rapid reduction of swelling and flare-ups… after a few weeks we were just down to vanicream and using topical steroids for “hot spots”… now we just use vanicream at night before bed and she’s basically stayed clear.
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Hey, that’s really great! Especially for children, this is soooo annoying… glad she’s feeling better now!
Funny thing that works for me (at least a bit) - my tattooist kinda tattoos over the spot, just without any colour. Seems to be so irritating for my skin, that it partially heals up normal, at least the size has significantly decreased… might be an idea for all people where nothing else seems to help 
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Actually this is a method used by dermatologists sometimes to illicit an immune response that “seals up” skin… it’s supposed to work for scar reduction as well.
Just to clarify, I never had exema or allergies. The red circle of death is not painful but itchy, like 10 mosquito bites 
it has been a day and there is not much change 
Can I safely put cold on it?
Wow that’s…crazy 
it’s a bit like small scale scarification if you think about it 
Yep, that’s pretty much the way my tattooist explained it to me (have some tattoos from him already, and we just started to talk a bit about that - it’s fully experimental, he didn’t make any assumptions that it might actually work^^). He just heard of a case where the eczema of a customer completely disappeared after he got a tattoo, so we decided to try it out. Additionally, it helps with my tattoo-addiction 
Don’t touch it. Don’t touch it. Don’t… argh. I know it’s hard
Usually, cold water can help really good, and if the wound itself is closed (and you don’t overdo it, like 10 minutes ice water…^^) it should be no problem.
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I use one of those blue cold pouches in a paper towel… It feels soo good
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It looks like it’s about 40% better 
the red circle of death is now less itchy and less red (you can’t see it on the pictures but it’s also less bumpy
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Glad that it starts to look better - I’d say, stay away from climbing for some time 
I’m slightly concerned about the suture, though - still looks pretty red, even kinda bloody in the second pic… bad picture or what’s happening there?
Is it just me, or is the implant really protruding up pretty prominently? Or is it just lingering swelling that will go down soon?