Head Damage - How to treat?

[Kingkat]

I have a discus who hit his head on the bracing at the top of the tank when he got startled. He lost a bit of skin above his eyes and it seems to be eroding a little bit rather than getting better. Any tips for treatment?
Cheers,
David.

[Xtreme]

Try some melafix, its great for fin damage and cuts

Usually does the job Dave

Cheers Wayne

[Bill T]

Many of us do not like melafix with discus. It seems to effect their slime coat.

[stonedavid]

Hi David,
I wld use metro as if it is starting to erode a small scrape can turn into something major.
I had a female get stuck behind an outlet pipe last month and although no skin was broken u cld see there was a bruise.
Within a couple of days the bruise turned into a sore and she ended up with an eroded sore about the size of a 10c piece. Didn't take any chances as she is a really good parent.
Metro fixed it and she is back to normal, that will teach her to chase after gecko's on the outside of the tank.

[scott bowler]

kingkat i think that melafix will do the trick, metro may be a little hard for this sort of thing. i would use metro if it was a more searious illness not a head wound. sorry i dont aggree stonedavid

[stonedavid]

I am just going on the information David has supplied, at first he states the fish "has lost a bit of skin". Normally this wld be treatable with Melafix, but then David goes on to say "eroding". Cuts that start to erode on the edges very quickly turn into gaping ulcerated sores as deep as they are wide. And if u dont act quickly you lose the fish. David needs to keep an close eye on the fish as the situation can get out of hand very quickly. I tend not to use metro but have found it very handy with eroding ulcerated sores shld it come to that.

[samir]

low the ph and keep water clean. any chance of a pic

[Kingkat]

Thanks for the help guys. Sorry Samir I don't have a digi cam at the moment. Normally I would try Melafix but it looks a bit past that. This fish went into a metro bath according to the sticky a couple of days after it damaged the skin and it still doesn't look very good after 6 days in the metro.

[Kingkat]

I have had another look today and the hole is deeper. It doesn't look red or inflamed or fungusy it is just a neat gouge with clean neat edges. My main concern is that it is close to the eye sockets. Any other ideas?
Cheers,
David.

[fishgeek]

if the wound is clean and is from trauma then clean water and good diet with time should allow to heal

secondary infection is your concern, sometimes topical ointment can be aplied to debrided wounds to give them some protection from secondary infection in the early stages

with yours i would jus wait and mnitor

andrew

[martraci]

salt is good
ive got a clumsy one bumps his head, clears up in a couple of days

[Kingkat]

Normally salt would work well but this time it's way past salt.
Cheers,
David.

[Merrilyn]

Give it time David. It will heal. So long as it's not red and stays clean looking, it will be fine.

[Kingkat]

Thanks Merrilyn, I was just concerned because it's getting deeper.
Cheers.

[Merrilyn]

I know David, but you can expect the dead skin to slough off before it begins filling in and healing.

Be patient :P

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi David,

With cuts and grazes I always used Bettadine with good results. Net the fish, lay it on a wet towel and put several drops on to the affected area. Let it soak in for 30 seconds or so. If it's real bad repeat that every day for a few days, if not every 2 days should do it. If it's already infected I would keep the Metro up to it, don't want to take any chances with major infections and end up losing a good fish.
MAC

[Kingkat]

Thanks all for the input. I used Metro and the Bettadine drops Mac and it is healing up nicely.
Cheers,
David.

[mistakes r crucial]

Glad to hear it.
MAC

[stonedavid]

Glad to hear it is healing up nicely Dave, I have never used bettadine on fish, so will keep that one for next time. I alway try to use meds sparingly but sometimes its necessary to use them especially when cuts start to worsen which cld be detrimental to the fish's health.
Pete

[Merrilyn]

That's good news David.