cut advice

[Singeblister]

Do we have any medical type folks about ?
Today while polishing a knife I managed to get a grab the blade spun and sliced the end ( ball bit ) off my finger , its gone right though but the bit is held on by about 6mm of skin near the nail ,,, my question is will it reattach its self or should I go to the hospital ?

I usually don't bother with hospitals but it doesn't want to stop bleeding stops but the slightest knock sets it off again , hospital will be a very very last resort what do you think ?

 

[Gailainne]

I dont know why your even asking, get off your **** and go to hospital, and get it looked at.

Stephen

 

[spamel]

I think you either typed with one hand or you are now messing about trying to get the blood off of the keys! As for your medical question, apply pressure and elevate (hold your hand in the air, pretend you are watching Bryan Adams and that you are holding a lighter! ) and hopefully it will stem the flow. Chuck a bandage over the end too to apply pressure with, but I'd say you should be gettng the blues and twos all the way to the hospital with an outrider escort and your hand in a bag of frozen peas!

 

[Lucyc]

Hmm well I was going to advise going to hospital, until I realised it had already been done
So what they said.

 

[rancid badger]

All of the previous, and welcome to the club

Seriously though, wrap it up and go directly to the nearest A+E, if you can't drive, get a taxi!

You might consider a kevlar glove for future sharpening. I actually always carry when out or have available around the house/workshop, a couple of nato issue f.f.d.'s in other words; large wound dressings, bit over the top for a finger end but you never know!

hope it's ok
Best wishes
R.B.

 

[Bernie Garland]

As a fellow maker iv'e also had many a good cut,i just get them together straight away and tape them up,the sooner you get them together the better,i'd have to have me finger hanging off to put up with the wait at a and e.

Bernie

 

[rancid badger]

As a fellow maker iv'e also had many a good cut,i just get them together straight away and tape them up,the sooner you get them together the better,i'd have to have me finger hanging off to put up with the wait at a and e.

Bernie

Oh lordy!
I did one once with a pruning saw and ended up like this chap here:
Cheers
R.B.

 

[Jared]

I something similar did a few years back.

Managed to slice the top right of my left thumb ( I have broad thumbs like 1" wide), blade went straight through the nail and beyond and just had the a few mills of skin of the pad holding it on.

The nurse did manage to put several stitches in it, including a couple through the nail.

Probably a good idea to get it looked at.

 

[xavierdoc]

Sounds like a pulp injury. These are painful (no sh*t, Sherlock!) and tend to ooze steadily; can take a long time to heal if the overlying flap of skin does not survive or was cut off.

I sustained the injury below on good friday:

WARNING, GORY PIC, hence "code box" as I can't find "hide" tags.

[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i10/xavierdoc/small2008Marchfingercut008.jpg[/IMG]

It now looks like this:

The official medical advice would be to attend A&E. They will likely just clean and steristrip it and arrange wound check. The flap of skin may not survive, but acts as an excellent dressing so long as it doesn't get infected (doesn't usually as the blood suppl is excellent.

In the meantime, elevate (hand above head) and pinch the pulp of the finger hard against the thumb. This is an excellent way of controlling the bleeding and allowing a fragile clot to form. The reason the bleeding tends not to stop is because the patient KEEPS CHECKING TO SEE! That clot is like your precious ember after 10mins frantic fire-bowing! Do not dab the clot off with tissue paper, etc. Just leave it there and wipe off any trickles from surrounding skin.

If you have something to dress it with, by all means do so, but do not put anything that fully encircles the finger -tends to increase bleeding and pain by acting as a venous tourniquet (high-pressure arterial blood gets in, but the low pressure venous return is occluded, causing congestion and thus bleeding).

It will throb like mad so get some painkillers on board in advance (much more effective that way.)

I find if the flap reattaches and survives, I can get back to physical tasks in a week to ten days without disturbing the wound. When the flap is sliced off (as above) it took ten days before it didn't tend to ooze after gripping tasks.

 

[spamel]

And I wouldn't bother eating fish and chips with your fingers for a while, especially if like me you love to drench your fish supper in salt and acid!

 

[Genna]

Well i'm a vet and i should advise the old a&e etc etc but...... as the wife of someone that can cut,scrape, knock bits of their hands so often its boring i would clean it up and bind it tight. It'll either heal or your hand'll drop off. Unless u are immune compromised or are on blood thinners hands heal really quick

Gennaxx

 

[Matt Weir]

Hope the finger is healing mate

 

[mr dazzler]

As a fellow maker iv'e also had many a good cut,i just get them together straight away and tape them up,the sooner you get them together the better,i'd have to have me finger hanging off to put up with the wait at a and e.

Bernie

Too right, not to mentiuon whatever bug's you might pick up in there as well. When I was talking with the doc about my injured hand and we discussed possible surgery he said I wouldnt have any surgery unless its absolutely essential because of the risk of infections what an admission

 

[Seabeggar]

Cut some 5-8mm wide strips of sticky plaster and try and stick the end back in approximate position. Apply a firm bandage around the finger , but not tight enough to compromise circulation. Sit with your hand up on your shoulder for an hour or two and then procede with your adventures. Change the dressing in about 3 days. If you start getting red lines into your hand and increasing pain or flu like symptoms you have infection and need urgent antibiotics.

 

[Barn Owl]

Basically, as it seems to be a 'clean' cut,all you need to do is make sure the skin is close together in order to start scarring.
Make an app' at GP or with nurse to see if any infection is starting after the w/end and all should be well.

Speaking for myself, i've had so many tetanus shots i'm now covered for life so don't need to worry about that.

Tom.

 

[Singeblister]

its stopped bleeding got a dressing on it well a few plasters lapped over each other , but put lots a vasaline on it to stop it sticking ,
Hospital isnt really an option takes to long and I got mrsa from there once so as you can imagine it puts you off going lol I was just after a few tips really I do get a lot of cuts doing what I do this one just had that ohhh sh** feeling to it , the wife was out with the car so I turned to you guys. I got the " wish you would stop making knives " speech off the mrs again when she came in and had to clean all the mess up ,,, well i couldn't do it with only 9 good fingers could I

 

[andywinkk]

Just bite the flapy bit of and get over it mate

 

[mentalnurse]

Just bite the flapy bit of and get over it mate

it isent going to stick back on mate as it wont have a blood supply anymore, if u wont go a/e best do what andy says but do it cleanly (brush ur teeth first) just joking use something clean to cut it make and dress it well..... but what do i know i do heads not bodys

 

[xavierdoc]

it isent going to stick back on mate as it wont have a blood supply anymore, if u wont go a/e best do what andy says but do it cleanly (brush ur teeth first) just joking use something clean to cut it make and dress it well..... but what do i know i do heads not bodys

The flappy bit makes an excellent dressing, and can indeed reattach and survive, despite no blood supply. In the same way split skin grafts and Wolfe grafts (wolfe-krause grafts) can.

The flappy bit can be annoying, though. Sticking it down is usually the best option, so long as it is clean underneath (which it will be if it was a clean blade, clean finger and bled freely.)

 

[xavierdoc]

Just bite the flapy bit of and get over it mate

Iconella corrodens. Human mouths are filthy places! Don't bite it off unless you're really hungry.