Smashed my thumb. Hurts like heck, turning black at base. So far, I’m soaking it in ice water which seems to reduce the swelling. I’ve read about a technique where you drive a red-hot needle/paper clip through the nail to relieve the pressure. Has anyone tried this? I think I’m too much of a sissy to do it.
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If you smash a fingernail and it swells up, definitely poke a hole to allow the blood to escape. It relieves the pressure and pain. You have to do it when it happens, not the next day. I'd rather use a 1/16" drill bit. You have to get the paper clip red hot, enough to burn through your nail, it can be torture. You can just pierce the skin, somewhere under the nail with a needle. The idea is to let the blood out.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Penobscotman
Yes, I have done that as well as used a very tiny drill bit to drill thru the nail. The idea is to relieve the pressure from the leaking blood.
It works, not painful unless you drill to deep.It can help you keep the nail (even if it does have a hole in it).
First time I had it done to me I was about 8 yrs. old and my old man drilled my thumbnail using a drill press to demonstrate to my buddy that it wouldn't hurt , my buddy had the smashed finger , I was just the demo person. Buddy took one look at what was going on and bolted!
May be too late however to save your nail , it is best done immediately after the injury. Once done it will relieve the pressure, then you have to keep the hole open to keep the blood from building up again. It does relieve the pain.
Ah yes the dreaded subungual hematoma...have not (probably could not) do this to myself however it does work. Saw my dad perform that exact procedure on my uncle years ago and apparently the relief was almost instant...at least the throbbing from the pressure was reduced.
DISCLAIMER: The above anecdote is only a recollection of something I witnessed as a youth and is not to be construed as medical advice!!!! (I saw the same person "reset" my BIL's broken finger using rum as a general anesthetic!)
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3225/is_5_71/ai_n13679059
TN
I actually used to have a cauterizing tool from my days in the ER that would do it.
Principle truly works great.
However, if i recall if you wait too long the blood sort of clots and the immediate relief isn't possible.
Why is it that after you smash your thumb like that, you hit, bump, and bang all day long for the next week no matter how hard you try not too????-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"If you come to a fork in the road, take it"
hence the term, "sticks out like a sore thumb"
I have drill my nail, proberly close to twenty times in my lifetime. I have use heat paperclips. small drill with my finger and the tip of my buck knife. never been infected..Most hated person on the net
What a buncha babies...lol. Just like you...I've done it a good half a dozen times with just a hot paper clip..melts right through the nail and doesn't hurt...what a bunch girly men..lololol
"What people will notice and remember is the broad brush of how how we act.We can aspire to reach our high ideals, or we can slide down the slippery slope towards the despicable." rjw
http://www.john-lennon.com/imagine-neilyoung.ra
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
What Andy said
Geeze, just heat up a paperclip and do it. It dont hurt and even if it did its a whole lot better than the pounding of a smashed finger for days.
Not an exponent of the DILLIGAF system.
Twenty times?!!!
Good Lord man, you're a hell of a lot more stubborn than I thought.
remember I do alot of mechanic work, metal work, and then I throw them concrete cylinders around all day.Most hated person on the net
I see. I didn't realize what you do for a living. Have you ever broken any of your fingers from work?
It's his knees that have been broken because of his work.And it weren't an accident...;o)
Fight fire with water.
Ah yes the dreaded subungual hematoma.
Are you, per chance, related to W.C. Fields?
Hudson,
No relation to Mr. Fields .... a man of great wit and wisdom though!
TN
I had an ER doc do it to mine once. Thought he was nuts. Used something that created smoke--very un-doctor-like to me. But it saved my nail and felt a lot better.
It's really not sissyhood to have it done under sterile conditions; lots of people survive Uncle Joe and his alcohol-wiped drill bit. Some get into real trouble. Messing with skin and dirt and drills is a good way to get sepsis and then you will then be in the hospital or lose a limb.
One of my friends did the drill bit trick... The flutes caught the nail and pulled the drill right through the whole finger.
OUch!
That would make great "stupid thing to do" videoView Image
Read down through this thread and all I could think, over and over was...My gawd I hope no one mentions using triple antibiotic under a bandaid after the hole is drilled.Tab1 would then show up and give everybody three day's lecture about not using triple antibiotic unless there is already an infection, and how we are all giving dreadful medical advice.
Kinda wondering why he isn't in here already, telling everyone how the end of the world is just around the corner because of all the horrible medical advice that has already been given.Youns are going to kill PenobscotMan ! PM, save your life dude !! Run, run as fast as you can to a certified doctor. Toss ten thousand dollars in his face. And maybe, just maybe he will save your life !!!
If you do what anyone else here suggests, your finger will rot away, and you will die a slow, painful death !!!
Fight fire with water.
Well, that's what I did - went to the doctor, emergency room. My wife got tired of my whimpering and made me go.
A PA took a special cauterizing tool - looked like a very delicate soldering iron, battery operated - and went through the nail. He had a nice touch - kept dabbing at the nail, ever burning a deeper hole until the blood oozed out. Immediate relief. I could try it myself next time. The trick is clearly not to go too deep too soon.
It's a very undignified injury - your hand should be nowhere near the strike zone of a hammer. What a klutz.
Thanks for all the advice, guys.
PenobscotMan,
Well I have a scar that wraps 2/3 of the way around my left thumb between the first and second knuckle.Came from a shingling hatchet, I did manage to stay on the roof however. Nothing embarrassing about a little banged up nail. ;-)
"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
*whew* sounds like you'll live then.;o)What did the doc put on it afterwards ? And/or tell you to put on it ?
Fight fire with water.
I'm going to offer this remedy befor Buck comes in here and does it.
When you wack your thumb with the hammer and your looking for relief you need to smash your foot with something heavy, takes your mind right off the sore thumb!
Doug
But where does the duct tape and super glue come in ?;o)
Fight fire with water.
thats when you take your knuckle out with the side grinder.Most hated person on the net
You guys make this too complicated. What you gotta do is...only hit your thumb hard when you're working in zero degree weather.
I did that early one morning, building a pole barn in January. I was wearing leather gloves which didn't provide much warmth. When I hit my thumb it was already numb so the pain was only bad for about thirty seconds. I didn't want to take off the glove outside, so I just kept working until lunchtime. Got in the warm trailer and slowly peeled the glove off the numb hand and mildly throbbing thumb. The nail was just dangling by the cuticle on one side, like a nicely hinged door.
Wow, what a surprise! I had no idea that I'd done that much damage. Well, I had already found the best remedy for the pain so I taped it up, got a fresh glove and worked the rest of the day, pretty much numb all over. That was one of the coldest days I ever spent working outside.
The nail was just dangling by the cuticle on one side, like a nicely hinged door.
Very nice!!!! ( no relation to Borat either!)
Why are all these carpenter types here still swinging clubs anyways? It's 2007 isn't it? Leave the hammer at home with the wife and bring the real weapons.
No more bashed digits...that 3" paslode spike making your hand part of the top plate is far more exciting than any blunt force trauma!!
TN
Why are all these carpenter types here still swinging clubs anyways? It's 2007 isn't it?
True enough but that smash and freeze was about thirty years ago or so. I still carry a hammer at all times on the job. I'd feel unbalanced without one.
And I'm still faster at end nailing studs with a long handled framing hammer than I am with a gun. Not a lot faster but I don't have to carry that big motha gun around with all the hose dragging along, somewhere behind.
Edited 6/8/2007 12:11 pm ET by Hudson Valley Carpenter
Yep, I still hand nail alot of framing. I hate the gun, use it for the ply. I see guys who use the gun with two guys, one setting the studs, one nailing. fighting with the hose, climb up the wall, "pass me the gun" , get more hose. Its endless screwwing around. Bag 'a nails, hammer, go anywhere.
I once stuck a skilsaw in my thigh, it was 90 degrees out, and I barely felt that either. Not too messy either, missed the femal arterie by an inch or so. Nice 12" scar. Yes. I knew the guard was screwed, but I was in a hurry and the other skilsaw was at least 16' away. And, yes, I'm also wondering why the h*ll am I sharing my stupidity with the world.
Yeah, even with the guns you still need the hammer for the ones that don't get driven far enough, for places where it's easier to swing a hammer than reach with the gun, punch items where it's less work to drive half a dozen nails by hand rather than get set up with the compressor and hoses, tapping things into place....
-- J.S.
I once stuck a skilsaw in my thigh, it was 90 degrees out, and I barely felt that either. Not too messy either, missed the femal arterie by an inch or so. Nice 12" scar. Yes. I knew the guard was screwed, but I was in a hurry and the other skilsaw was at least 16' away. And, yes, I'm also wondering why the h*ll am I sharing my stupidity with the world.
I'll bet it was a left blade worm gear. One of those knicked me in the same spot. Cutting wet 3/4" CDX, the guard was slow to close because it was loading up with wet saw dust. I didn't notice because the guard was closed when I set the saw down. As it passed next to my loose fitting overalls, the blade grabbed the material and pulled into my thigh, just enough to draw blood.
Yep, the "thigh biter 2000"
(got me another time when I wedged the guard open to cut forming stakes)
used both both work equally well. squeeze the blod out, you may have to put aother hole in it inna day or so in case the blood comes back. But it does work
View Image "We fight not to enslave ,but to set free"
Thomas Paine
First time I had it done was by a doctor back in the 60s. He used an old-fashioned rectangular razor blade, and twisted the corner of the blade on my nail, making a conical hole. No chance of going too deep because the hole is conical. As soon as you see blood, you're done. Second time I needed it done, I did it myself, using a utility knife blade.
I dropped a hammer on my big toe when I was a kid. To relieve the pressure, my uncle(a doctor), used a scalpel to drill through the nail. No power tools needed. Spinning a small drill bit by hand would probably do the trick
From now on, hold the hammer with both hands !
You can twirl that 1/16 drill between your fingers - you'll have much better control, and the fingernail is pretty soft. Works like a charm.
Back when I was in the animal husbandry business ( I used to work at a dairy ) we had a herdsman that used to work with hogs. He said that when he bred a sow, he would scratch a deep groove in the very bottom of his thumb nail. When the groove grew our to the tip of his fingernail, the little pigs were due. Gestation period for a sow is two months, two weeks, and two days.
You'll have that little hole in your nail for a long time !
By the way, he called this his . . . Rule of Thumb !
Greg
He said that when he bred a sow, he would scratch a deep groove in the very bottom of his thumb nail.
OK but did he look deep in her eyes and say, "S'ows everything?"
When he bred sheep did he yell, "Hey ewe! Front and center!"
Ha ! So do you know why cows have such long faces ? 'Cause they only get bred once a year !
Greg
Depending on the severity of the injury, you may want to take a round of antibiotics. Crush injuries are particularly susceptible to infection, and a little medicine is cheap insurance.
You may be able to retain some semblance of a nail by repeated applications of clear nail polish until the nail completely grows out. Worked for me.
Depending on the severity of the injury, you may want to take a round of antibiotics. Crush injuries are particularly susceptible to infection, and a little medicine is cheap insurance.
Indeed. My brother had a finger smashed on the job a few years back (not even that bad of a wound), and wound up with a case of MRSA. Had a pretty close call with that one, as he didn't actually go to the hospital until there were runners all the way up his arm and into his body. Docs said he came with 24 hours or so of buying it. Put him back in the hospital a year later. Nasty stuff.
And then on Memorial Day, my boy nearly had the tip of his middle finger destroyed by a steel door slamming on it (wind caught the door). Almost "decapitated" his finger, broke the tip, 7 stitches. Two right through the nail. I'm pretty hard-headed, but I almost passed out when the doc put the suture needle through his nail. Ugh.
Anyway, they put him on 5 days' worth of Keflex to make sure he didn't get a bone infection. Nothing to mess around with, that.
Jason
Okay, here's the problem with that and the overuse of antibiotics in general. I've been in Emergency Medicine for 30 years, and the evidence based practice of medicine does not support the routine use of antibiotics for lacerations in the ED. I'm unaware of good studies on subungual hematomas though.
MRSA (methicillin resistant staph aureus) has been brought upon us by the overuse of antibiotics and Keflex would be one of the prime examples.
If the analogy of lacerations in the ED can be used; about 6-10% of lacerations seen and treated in the ED become infected regardless of antibiotic use. The preparation, cleansing, irrigation, tissue handling and debridement are more important than antibiotics.
BTW, almost all the substances that our mothers used to "kill the germs" are harmful to wounds. We should cleanse the wounds to remove the contaminants, not kill the bacteria. Whatever kills the bacteria [ alcohol, Betadine,iodine (the base for Betadine )], injures the tissue and impairs the white blood cells germ killing properties.
Indeed, crush injuries are more likely to get infected. That's because of the tiny bits of injured tissue that do not have good blood supply.
I'm surprised the doc told him he had come within 24 hours of dying. Sounds overly dramatic. The type of statement someone would say to make themselves look like the hero. The streaks sound like lymphangitis, mistakenly called "blood poisoning". It certainly indicates a progression of the infection, but not usually deadly.
Why use clear polish? Pasion Vine is my favorite
I've done it on myself by twisting an exacto knife - didn't hurt at all, & no chance of going too far, although less macho...
Good Luck!
I've use the drill bit idea and it works. Just don't use a lot of preasure on the drill bit
D O C T O R
Just did that for a friend of mine on a Monday after he dropped a heavy steel die on his toe that previous Friday. Black and blue and very painful to walk... He said his boss (My son) suggested he drill a hole 'til blood spewed out, just like he had seen his dad (Me)do many times to his (My) thumb.
He had suffered all weekend with the pain,/ but couldn't /take a chance with his Makita drill. (OH THE HUMANITY!)I did it with a hand held tiny drill bit twirling it with two fingers.
Blood squirted out about two feet. INSTANT RELIEF!Duck taped the digit and told him, "You'll get my bill in the morning". DR. Steinmetz.
Edited 6/10/2007 7:46 pm ET by Steinmetz
Ditto (like most of the replies) on the drill bit. Did it with my son once; let him do the work himself. Disinfect the area before drilling, disinfect the drill. Use smallest drill you can find. 1/16" seems large to me; 1/32 would be more like it. As suggested, twist between fingers with light pressure. Take your time, check depth frequently, and stop just as point begins to break through, and maybe finish with sterile needle. Don't go through any farther than needed, with barely enough hole to allow drainage. Slight pressure will help push fluid out. Seems scary to drill a finger, but, ah, the relief is instantaneous!
Some free medical advice. (In exchange for great construction advice)
Whatever you use to penetrate the nail, make sure it is clean and sterile. You can sterilize with heat or alcohol. Relieving the pressure, accelerates the healing and may save the nail. ERs use a one time use, battery powered heated probe that burns through the nail in seconds. No pain at all and instant relief.
kbd,
Gee and my old man just pulled a small drill bit out of the drill set, chucked it into the drill press, adjusted the belt for slow speed, then clamped my hand to the table with his big paw and lowered away. All the while telling my buddy " See John will show you it doesn't hurt a bit when I do this" I like your method better.
;-)
"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
Was a dentist with the military and we got all the subungal finger & toe hematoma jobs. We would use an air rotor (the hi-speed, jet engine one that would rotate at about 400,000 no-load rpm with a water spray. Lot of the older soldierss had "endured" the hot wire technique before and much preferred our method.
Never taught this in dental school tho!
Yes, I've done it maybe 4 times. The best way I have found is to use a brand new 1/16" drill bit and drill through the nail to let the blood out. DO NOT use a drill for heaven sake! One of the posters said that they drilled through the finger??!!! Yikes! Twist it back & forth between the index finger and thumb of the opposite hand as you apply gentle pressure with drill bit head to the injured nail. I t works great. Sounds like you might lose the nail.
I can state emphatically that the drill bit does work. I can remember a time many years ago that my Dad suggested this to me after a rather nasty whack. I think I was about 15 but the pain over ruled an common sense I might have had at the time.
As I'm just slightly (lots) older now the "surgery" occurred about a day or so later and it made a huge difference. Use the smallest drill bit you can find and, if squemish, drill by hand, between your finger tips, into the affected fingernail.
It will help!!!
I agree with the other posters who suggested drilling a hole. I had to do this once, and the relief was immediate. I drilled the hole with a tiny bit and a hand drill (the sort you spin in your hand; not even an eggbeater). As I recall, I did the operation about 3 days after the accident.