What is the remedy for ear infection with low grade fever?
Patient: I'm a college student and usually when I'm sick and need to see a doctor go home I go to my family physician where my parents live. And this fall I had blood drawn for SED, thyroid, cholesterol, and the nurses usually do a good job. A good job as in the only thing I see after I pull off the band-aid is the little red dot of where they stuck in the needle. And I have smaller veins so the doctor's office I usually go to has the nurses already aware to always use a smaller needle when they go to draw my blood. Plus, they always give my arm time before injecting a needle to allow a proper vein show up.  They do this by slapping my arm, using the elastic band, or whatever.      Yet come this past week since i'm a college student I live on campus, and  I got sick with an ear infection slash small stomach virus. And I could not go home to my normal doctor due to having to many things due this past weekend, so I decided to use the clinic on campus that is for students. And they end up having trouble diagnosing me because I had a low grade fever, yet I had drainage in my left ear. So they decided to do blood count test or sed rate.      Like I mentioned I never have problems after getting blood work done. But this time being nervous in a different doctor's office then I’m used to I notice the nurse was not taking her time at all making sure I had a proper vein. Yes she did use the elastic bandage, and I told her I had smaller veins. Yet she did not really check as much as most nurses I have had in past tend to do. And when she went to inject the needle I noticed that she did not inject it in the normal area under my elbow that I usually get blood drawn from and she did to the side of it.  I was slightly excited at the time, because I never had my blood drawn that fast. Yet it left me with a feeling of dread.      And that dread was right, after hours of having the cotton swab and Band-Aid on the injection sight, I lifted it up to see redness and two bruises on and around the sight. They were different in size, one about the size quarter and one about the size of a half dollar. And I showed one of my best friends, but she paid no mind to it thought it was normal. But over the weekend I developed another bruised around a nickel size near the other two bruises. Plus, I notice pain and painful lump had developed (probably a hematoma) between the size of a quarter to a half dollar's circumference 1 ½ inch to 2 inches away from the injection site. And now the redness has gone away but the bruises are still there, and so is the lump that is making it painful to bend my left arm. So what could have happened to cause this? And what can I do to make it less painful and to heal? I saw posts about taking vitamin c and applying compresses to it. But seriously, I never had this happen before and usually the only thing after blood work is the little red dot from injection nothing else. Doctor: Hi,Welcome to HCM.I understand your concern regarding redness and swelling in the area where the needle was pierced. Such swelling usually occurs due to thrombophlebitis due to bleeding and inflammation of the vein wall. It is one of the common complications of blood sampling. I suggest you do some hot fomentation on the area for the swelling. You can take over the painkillers for the pain. Bruises will resolve within 7-10 days.Thanks.