Kids, don’t try this at home!

[Herb Hunter]

Here’s hoping your digits heal quickly.

[Jim Owen]

Hi Sandy,
Heal quickly. I'm glad you didn't knick a tendon.

Most of us have slipped with a blade at sometime. You'll be fine come gig time.

[Chicago Sandy]

Had first followup today--stitches intact (though pain’s more intense--resorting to ibuprofen again), have to change dressing twice a day and keep buddy-taping. Sutures come out May 1--and after that, physical therapy will consist of intense chord practice and squeezing rubber balls. (May put a thin coat of NuSkin over the scars so they don’t reopen). Also postponing the manicure for a week--we could cover the dressings with plastic wrap, but the P.A. at the doc-in-a-box around the corner advises against any chance of acetone hitting the wounds. Will clip the left hand nails short, though, as soon as the sutures come out so that I can fret more cleanly. Can do thumb-and-index chords on dulcimer for now.

And this may be TMI, especially for the guys here...but I was able to hook my own bra today. (Most men have extensive experience UN-hooking bras for the women in their lives, but we gals are on our own putting them back on).

[Chicago Sandy]

Sutures removed early yesterday evening. Fingers moving okay but have to work them a bit faster. Scars look fairly gross, but they ought to fade over time--will also be using anti-scar gel. Surprised that the “uncut” knuckles feel stiffer than the injured ones. Wish me luck as I ease back into practicing!

[martingitdave]

Good news Sandy! Glad to see that you are getting some movement back. Good luck getting back into guitar. What anti-scar gel are you using? I need to get some myself.


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[architype]

Glad you are on the mend. Keep away from sharp objects if you can.

[fazool]

OK, as weird as this sounds - it took me until now to be able to respond.

About 2 months ago I was working on my workbench, slicing a very tough sheet of plastic with an industrial razor knife. I was telling myself be careful and was. At first.

The blade came out of the groove, wandered right across my finger, cleanly slicing the tip off. It was held on by a flap of skin and fortunately missed the bone.

I grabbed it, ran upstairs and started making arrangements for a ride to the ER. Not wanting to bleed all over the car ride my wife called the paramedics who bandaged me up for the ride.

I was in shock and squeezed it so tightly in my fist I was physically unable to let go. My son had to uncurl my fist so they could look at it.

That's a good thing - I clamped it so tight I held it together like a tourniquet.

This is just another of a dozen or so stitches, nicks, scrapes and scars I have. All bless-fully not serious.

Everything came back and even my playing was 100% unaffected. I have a slight damage tot he side nail and a numb spot there but am thankful for a "full" recovery.

The ER doc stitched me up and I went to a hand surgeon the next day who re-repaired my injury.

I will say, however, the one single most painful physical experience of my life was from this. Apparently there is a bundle of nerves that carry all your sensitive tactile feeling. This bundle runs down the center of your finger then fans out onto your fingertip, where it feels everything.

Well, the ER doc had to push a needle into that nerve bundle. He gave me a morphine injection first, then used a "ring block" around the base of the finger to numb things. But even with those, it was unbelievably, apocalyptically painful. I actually told him to stop but he was right at the end.

Probably somewhat mentally scarring too lol.

Whew OK I worked up a mild sweat recounting the story.

So, fast forward a couple months and it's all good. Good news then: I've had a similar slice your fingertip experience and can encourage and comfort you that you can make a full playing recovery. 100%

I hope it goes well for you.

[Glennwillow]

Sorry about this mishap, Sandy. I hope you heal quickly and painlessly.

These really good, sharp knives that we modern cooks are using today are much more dangerous than the knives of old, though I remember my dad cutting himself very badly once right after sharpening a butcher knife to cut a big ham. We gave one of my daughters and her new husband a knife set for their wedding -- this must be 10 years ago. In their first year, my son-in-law dropped one of the knives on his bare foot and cut a tendon. It took him quite a while to fully heal. It was quite a lesson. Not only keep your fingers out of the way of these sharp knives, but be sure to wear something on your feet when using sharp knives in the kitchen.

- Glenn

[sfden1]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Sorry about this mishap, Sandy. I hope you heal quickly and painlessly.

These really good, sharp knives that we modern cooks are using today are much more dangerous than the knives of old, though I remember my dad cutting himself very badly once right after sharpening a butcher knife to cut a big ham. We gave one of my daughters and her new husband a knife set for their wedding -- this must be 10 years ago. In their first year, my son-in-law dropped one of the knives on his bare foot and cut a tendon. It took him quite a while to fully heal. It was quite a lesson. Not only keep your fingers out of the way of these sharp knives, but be sure to wear something on your feet when using sharp knives in the kitchen.

- Glenn

Far more dangerous to the home cook (as well as professionals) are dull knives that can't properly slice or dice, but can cut or stab the cook. Razor sharp ones are much easier to work with, and in the event of a mishap, the cut is far easier to repair and heal than one done with a dull knife. Too many home cooks neglect to keep their knives sharp, imho.

Sandy, glad to hear your healing well.

[Chicago Sandy]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Good news Sandy! Glad to see that you are getting some movement back. Good luck getting back into guitar. What anti-scar gel are you using? I need to get some myself.


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Vacillating between Boots and Mederma (I have both, from my knee-surgical-scar days). Right now, just using Neosporin Pain Relief.

I actually “kept my fingertips bent under” but the cuts were between the first (just below the fingertips, which were bent under) and second (just below where rings are usually worn) knuckles. Because the lime was so rock-hard, it rolled away, exposing the parts of my fingers normally “hidden” as they guided the food.

Last night, I was experiencing some discomfort (somewhere between pain and irritation) during chord changes and fingerings. Not in the cut sites, nor in the knuckles. Looked at my fingers and did a double-take: on the inside surfaces (ring finger proximal and middle finger distal) of the fingers are two red sores (blood blisters? bruises? pressure sores?) that exactly touch each other when I juxtapose those fingers as they were while buddy-taped together. No infection, doesn’t look like the surface is broken--but certainly were neither cut nor sutured. Wondering what I can do other than slather on Arnica or Alocane until they go away (if ever). May visit my hand surgeon after my festival gig in June if they haven’t gone away--this would be a job for a specialist, not an emergency doc. (Not enough time now before my May 12 gig, or between then and early June, for anything that may have to be done to heal). I’m pretty sure the original elastic self-stick gauze buddy-tape wrap over the suture dressings was too tight--in fact, it was part of the pain that woke me up the following night and caused me to loosen the wraps. Wonder why they didn’t insert padding between the uninjured surfaces of the fingers before wrapping them--nor why nobody told me to do so at dressing changes.

(My original thought was that maybe those red spots were at the anesthetic injection sites--but then I remembered the shots were given in the webbing at the very bases of the fingers, where they meet the palm, and there seems to be no visible or palpable “souvenirs" of those needles).