Copper Jacket Under Skin - Long Term

[Laughing_jackal]

About 7-8 years ago I was shooting some steel and some jacket came back and hit me under my eye.  In our world, this isn't too abnormal.  It broke the skin, and I was able to remove the piece of fragment. When I got home, I took a closer look and it seemed like there might have still been something left in the wound, but I couldn't get it out.  I figured it would work itself out over time.

 

The wound appeared to heal, but there was always a little discolored little bump; like Blue'ish green.  

 

Years go by and this little bump where the injury happened begins to get larger and larger (about 1cm x 1.5cm).  I mentioned it to my doctor at a routine check-up and she wasn't quite sure what it was.  I was referred to a dermatologist and she thought it could be a cyst, but couldn't quite know for sure.  My doctor nor the dermatologist would cut it open since it was on my face, so I was referred to a plastic surgeon.

 

Yesterday, the Plastic Surgeon cut it open and she was surprised.  She said it was just filled with black liquid, which she explained our body doesn't produce any sort of black liquid.  I explained my theory that it could be from the left over copper fragments. My theory seemed to make sense to her, though she's never seen anything like this before.  She said that she couldn't find anything that was metallic under the skin, but if it came back, they could do ultrasound or something else to see what might be there.

 

I was curious if anyone else here has ever had anything similar?  I figured of all the communities, this would be the most likely where this has happened to someone else. 

 

[shred]

A couple decades ago I had a little chunk of copper at the top of my cheek just under the glasses for a month or so from a frag off crap steel.  Bled pretty good and the spot never really healed up.  A month later I was poking at it and a little piece of copper came out.  After that it healed right up.

 

[rishii]

Years ago I was shooting at steel and caught some splatter in my knee and it bleed a bit, I put a band aid on it and kept shooting.

well for months after there was a slight lump and I felt something might be in there, I pricked it with a needle and black ooze came out and after a bit of digging I pulled out a 1/4” sliver copper jacket. I squeezed all the black ooze out and it healed up fine.

[Farmer]

Makes me wonder if she just didn’t see/find the piece or your body had dissolved it down next to nothing. Over the years of getting things stuck under my skin if it won’t heal, there’s still something in there! Maybe the black goo is from carbon on the jacket or the breakdown of the copper. 

[Joe4d]

the blueish green shoulda been a hint.. Thats what salt does to copper.. 
And now that I think about it.  Horses that spend alot of time in wet conditions get foot infections, a common treatment is copper sulfate, based is blue green,,,  you put it in the crack, and wrap it with a diaper and duct tape,, comeback tommorrow and clean it out with a hose and its black.. 

[Laughing_jackal]

Thanks for everyone's input and experiences!  I really appreciate it!  It sounds like it was probably that copper jacket/metal fragment, as our experiences all sound very similar. I'll have to be a little more diligent/thorough next time the steel shoots back like that.