To bleed or not to bleed

Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing, I would choose pain.
– William Faulkner

In my early 20s I developed a severe allergy to all sulfa-based antibiotics. All of them. Which includes two of the three in triple-antibiotic ointments, like Neosporin. If I put it on my skin I develop a rash. We keep a single-antibiotic ointment in our house.

Combine that with my life-long allergy to adhesive bandages, and my penchant for silly injuries doesn’t work that well.

If I put a bandage on for too long I’ll develop a rash that can often be more serious than the wound I was trying to cover. Almost two weeks ago I put a bandage on my lower back before bed so I wouldn’t bleed all over the bed. I took it off first thing in the morning, but you can still see exactly where the bandage was because all the skin it was stuck to is slightly red and lightly flaking off.

I do alright with medical sports tape stuff, so I could tape gauze to me and make it really obvious I’m injured. And areas that aren’t that sensitive, like my fingers or lower legs, generally do okay for a day or so.

Every time I’m bleeding I have to choose what the risk of bleeding all over everything is and if its worth a bandage or not. Sometimes life’s choices are a little weird.