Self Stitching !!

[pumbaa]

Has anyone here ever had to stitch themselves up ?
Ok , rumbled . I started wondering about this due to the whole stevies plane crash thread on here and BB . The reason i am asking is as a qualified piercer i tried to pierce my nipple . I knew what i was doing even used loads of anestetic on the area before hand . Next i put the clamps on , lined up the needle and went for it . I woke up a wee while later , on the floor . Man did that hurt !!!!
This required passing the needle through my flesh once . To do that more than once to seal a wound is beyond me for certain . I know its a tad "Rambo" but has anyone genuinely managed this ? How painfull did you find it ?
Cheers
Pumbaa

 

[hedgepig]

Would it be rude to laugh ...

I can't image how hard it must be to self stitch

 

[scottishwolf]

I've done it to my arm, foot, stomach and leg a few times. I'm pretty accident prone and was a bouncer at a few more than dodgy places. And having sat for what must be around a hundered hours of tattoos I didn't think it hurt all that much to be honest. Although the one time it really did hurt was on my foot, I stood on broken glass while swimming in a loch and couldnt the the bleeding to stop. Only needed 4 stitches but was bloody sore to stitch. I just really dont like hospitals and dont perticularly trust them to be the most hygenic places around, that's why I always prefer to do it myself. I did use proper stuturing kits though as trying to stitch yourself up 'rambo' style with a normal needle and thread is just silly and will do more damage than good.

 

[bushwacker bob]

There is a wide gap between stitching a wound and piercing a nipple! stitching flesh probably hurts only a little more than recieving the wound and sterastrips will close a wound almost as well but without the pain.
Nipples are a collection of nerve endings that stop your chest from fraying and are designed to be sensitive not perforated.

 

[British Red]

Its worth mentioning that there is a lot more to suturing than just a couple of suture ties. Theres the potential business of needing dissolving stitches in a subcutaneous layer, plus all the horrors of infection, tetanus, not to mention what you might be stitching inside yourself unless your wound cleaning is top notch! I really don't fancy a nasty dose of gangrene. Lets not even go near the pulls on the flesh and scarring if you make a hash of it!

I was lucky enough to have proper technique shown to me ( a piece of pork was hurt in the demo). To do a good job of it takes practice! I've done many, many silly things in my life, but to be honest, I'll always get a professional to take over medical situations as soon as I can

Now removing my own stitches - several times. Wait for 3 hours to have a nurse snip a couple of sutures and check what is clearly a cleanly healed wound with no infection? Yep, done that.

As for pain....hmmm my choice to have an abscessed tooth drawn without anaesthetic was ....mildly entertaining. I think the worst was a crushed hand that I thought was bruised for a couple of days. Nope, I'd broken several bones in my hand. Unfortunately it had stiffened into a claw and needed to be flattened pre X-ray. That wasn't a whole barrel of laughs either. Stuff happens though

Red

 

[sharp88]

It would be handy if you were off the beaten track or in an LEDC where healthcare was particularly poor. I dunno about you but if I fell down a slope n ended up with a broken leg and a huge gash, I'd give it a damn good try.

Im interested in finding out more about it. You can get suture kits here n there on the internet. My mum is a nurse and my dad was a medic in the army. Theres tonnes of manuals n stuff around here so I may have a good read about it all.

 

[david1]

Has anyone here ever had to stitch themselves up ?
How painfull did you find it ?

yes I have, being young and not wanting to wait at hospital.
was it painfull oh yes very might be why they numb wounds first.

but in a real situation, stuck away from help yes I would do it again.
but not many people find themselves in a real life or death situation.
If I was camping and needed stiches I would be off to the hospital no questions asked.

http://www.theapprenticedoctor.com/secure/showitem.php?item_id=2

David

 

[spamel]

There is a wide gap between stitching a wound and piercing a nipple!

Both involve needles, so I ain't going there unless I really have to. I can see me needing stitches happening a long time before I think getting my nipples pierced is a life or death situation! Some people get their todgers pierced! Are they mad?

 

[demographic]

Got a mate who has done it whilst beer was involved, he could have gone to casualty but if you turn up there ****** they treat you like crap anyway so he figured that he was better off doing it himself.
At least he didn't have to wait for three hours.

As beer was involved I can't remember exactly what he had done though Suffice to say that he didn't die of infection and he is just as ugly now as he was before the accident so no worse than before

 

[Mike Ameling]

Stitching yourself up without any anesthetic can be a bit ... rough.

A lot depends upon how "sensitive" the area is. Some parts of the body have more nerves in them than other parts. And some areas of skin are thicker than other parts. It also depends upon your personal tolerance to pain. And, lest we forget, is the wound in an area that you can reach?

I've had my share of ... fun ... over the years. The hardest part is just deciding to do it, and then getting on with the task. And once you start, do it with commitment. Gingerly poking at making the stitches just makes it hurt more.

The last few times, I've just used duct tape or super glue. Once the major leaking has stopped, and everything is cleaned and dried, a few drops of super glue along the edges will seal the wound. Just be sure to carefully line up the edges before you press them together. And duct tape can act a lot like stitches - holding things in place while also covering the wound.

They now make a "sterile" super glue, but it isn't approved in most places. But many vets use it when treating animals.

It's always fun when you start to ... how shall we say it ... leak. And even more so when we have to fix that leak. The standard warning/response is to tell you to let the professionals do the patching up. But in the real world, many times that is not an option. In the end, it will be your personal choice how you deal with it.

Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[SimonM]

Before I "reformed" I was a right little g*t and regularly truanted school.

On one of my trips out I was walking along a disused railway and fell. I put my hand out to stop myself, but ended up passing it through a loop of barbed wire which RIPPED a hole across the outside edge of my thumb.

Now my Mum was a bit scarry and there was no way I was going to tell her - so I sneaked into the shed and got my fishing gear out. I used fishing line to put 3 stitches in.

YES it hurt, but not as much as the slapping that I would have got!

I have the scar to prove how bad by medical skills were back then!

Simon

Reading this back makes my Mum sound really bad - She's not really, it's just that I pushed the boundaries back then!

 

[demographic]

Stitching yourself up without any anesthetic can be a bit ... rough.

A lot depends upon how "sensitive" the area is. Some parts of the body have more nerves in them than other parts. And some areas of skin are thicker than other parts. It also depends upon your personal tolerance to pain. And, lest we forget, is the wound in an area that you can reach?

I've had my share of ... fun ... over the years. The hardest part is just deciding to do it, and then getting on with the task. And once you start, do it with commitment. Gingerly poking at making the stitches just makes it hurt more.

The last few times, I've just used duct tape or super glue. Once the major leaking has stopped, and everything is cleaned and dried, a few drops of super glue along the edges will seal the wound. Just be sure to carefully line up the edges before you press them together. And duct tape can act a lot like stitches - holding things in place while also covering the wound.

They now make a "sterile" super glue, but it isn't approved in most places. But many vets use it when treating animals.

It's always fun when you start to ... how shall we say it ... leak. And even more so when we have to fix that leak. The standard warning/response is to tell you to let the professionals do the patching up. But in the real world, many times that is not an option. In the end, it will be your personal choice how you deal with it.

Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

Thats a point, one of my mates father is a doctor and has used the posh superglue stuff whilst out doing a diving expedition thing abroad, another mate who works as a carpenter just used Mitre Mate to glue up a cut.

I am not saying its right to just de-cant some Mitre Mate on a cut but thats what he did all the same.

 

[Jedadiah]

Was out in the field one time and some clever 'chap' dropped a L/R tailgate down as i was coming out from underneath (just refitted a diff and was filling it up). Big'ol gash across the top of my head. To cap it all off, 'stand to' was called so i did what everyone would do, reached into the toolbox and grabbed the superglue. I'm sure it was not sterile and definately not when my hands were covered in OEP-220. I did mange to wipe the thick off before pinching the wound together, but there was so much blood, i couldnt tell. Still, it stopped the bleeding and did'nt go septic.

I would'nt recommend this action, it just fitted the situation at the time and the bonus was i did'nt have to have stitch's. I don't actually mind them going in, but i tend to go light headed when they are removed!

 

[sharp88]

Duck tape sounds like a really good improvisation. Butterfly sutures are rubbish anyhow, the adheisive on them sucks. Iv had acute ecsma on my hand for years and back in the day I used to get half inch splits on my knuckles.

 

[h2o]

theres an invention i like to use it holds the wound together and u can use cotton wool to stop the blood,the name of the said invention is a plaster.very easy to obtain and most medical kits will have some in

 

[Tengu]

The doctors are always supergluing up my friends kids, I think they are sick of the sight of them.

 

[EdS]

. The reason i am asking is as a qualified piercer i tried to pierce my nipple . I knew what i was doing even used loads of anestetic on the area before hand . Next i put the clamps on , lined up the needle and went for it . I woke up a wee while later , on the floor . Man did that hurt !!!!
Pumbaa

The secret is frozen peas and a nappy pin (cleaned). Ears, eyebrow, nose, nipple and navel - worked every time.


As for stithcing yourself - that what super glue is for. Done it on more times than enough.

 

[Chris G]

Wasn't Superglue invented in/for the Vietnam war?

Chris

 

[Runs for cake]

Joking aside , that really is what super glue is for. Invented by some boffin for use by Us forces during the Vietnam conflict apparently.

 

[Mike Ameling]

Another medical use for Duct Tape is if you are developing a blister. Just cover the affected area with duct tape. The tape "bonds" with the skin all around the area, strengthening it, and helps keep small areas from rubbing/sliding. Eventually this causes the outer layer of skin to separate from lower layers within your skin - leading to a blister.

It also helps keep things from rubbing against the outside layer of your skin - causing an abrasion.

A blacksmith friend told me this ... hint ... about using duct tape to help stop a blister from forming. He taught classes, and many of his students would get blisters in the first couple hours - because they were not used to pounding with a hammer so much. Getting blisters in the first couple hours has a way of affecting the rest of your several day blacksmithing class. So a medic friend told him about using duct tape to create "instant armour". At the first hint of a blister forming on someone's hand/fingers, they wrap the area with duct tape. You cover that area that is starting to get red and feels hot. It has worked wonders for his students in the blacksmithing class.

I've used this tip myself. Like when I'm not used to raking leaves in the fall, and start to develope a blister between my thumb and first finger. Or when stitching heavey leather with thick cord - pulling the cord tight can quickly give you a blister or dig/cut into the crease on the inside of one of your knuckles.

Yeah, the adhesive on butterfly bandages doesn't work that well. Ditto regular bandages. I often cover a regular bandage with duct tape - to help keep it in place. But there is one MAJOR drawback to using duct tape on your body. When you try to take it back off, all the HAIR that you covered up wants to stick with the tape!!!!!! It's kind of like that thing I've heard that some people often do to remove unwanted hair on legs called "Waxing"! I've seen grown men cry when removing duct tape applied over hairy skin.

Just some more humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' blacksmith out in the Hinterlands