I sliced into my finger two days ago (Tuesday at lunch). This is the first picture I've taken of it.

I just took the adhesive bandage off for the picture. It seems insignificant to walk around w/ a bandage on the finger tip and tell this terrific story, but here is the evidence. The arrow shows the angle the knife went into the finger. You can also see the would on the side of the finger, as well as how it cut into the nail.

The whole top of my finger was flipped forward and hanging off my finger tip. I was just beside myself. Blood everywhere. Pain. Scared that I would actually lose the end of my finger. Another 1/4" and I would have. We went to Urgent Care, but by the time we got there, it had sort of stopped bleeding. We went and got bandages and peroxide to keep it clean. I had to pick a piece of basil (what I was chopping at the time) out of the nail bed before I could dress the wound.

So far, it's healing, and the most painful part is the skin on the side. The nail bed doesn't have a lot of pain. I'm curious to see how the new nail, as it grows, pushes off the old nail, and how long the new nail will take to grow in. I also realize I could really use a manicure in general. My nails just look horrendous here.

I dip it in peroxide 3 or 4 times a day, and put a clean bandage on it to keep it from moving or being bumped. I also put some Neosporin on it to help the outer wound heal. It still freaks me out to see it.

good job!!

fingers do have a tendency to get between the food and knife...

sunshine that needed stitches.

About 20 years ago I learned the hard way to never try to catch a foodservice film box (like a saran wrap box, only bigger and nastier) if it gets knocked off the counter. Ended up with 13 stitches across my right wrist. It was awesome, the chef almost passed out from the blood and his gf had to drive me to the ER.

lazycrockett said:

sunshine that needed stitches.

At the very least he should've gotten it glued

Watch out for infection

see if you were in Scotland just now someone would say "I've had a bigger scratch on the head of my cock"

Here, lemme give you a thumbs up:

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lazycrockett said:

sunshine that needed stitches.

Eeeewwww ewwweeeewww !

Ernest you need stitches and a tetanus shot. Get to the doctor.

I remember when I sliced my foot inbetween the big toe and it took 4 hours to stop bleeding. I went to the walk in clinic. The doctor froze the area and did 8 stitches. I can barely see where it happened now.

Ernest your finger looks infected you should really go to your doctor or nearest A&E. If you’re not going to go then only use saline to clean the wound and put butterfly stitches on in an attempt to keep the wound closed. Try and not get any more bacteria into the wound, cover it when you’re working with your hands.

ewwww ewwww :shudder:

johnart said:

Here, lemme give you a thumbs up:

[img:$uid]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i9/jgascot/personal/thumb.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g216/rebecca8273/motivator7198916.jpg[/img:$uid]

PurpleRighteous1 said:

I really think it's unwise for you to care for a wound like that yourself. You should head back to the doctor.

+1

I couldn't agree more. By the time you find out your own method of caring for it isn't working, it may create a problem far greater.

Ernest, you probably should have gotten stitches - even if the bleeding had stopped. I agree with the others - you should see a doctor. The redness in the skin at the base of your nail looks like an infection. That kind of wound is too deep for topical ointment - you probably need antibiotics at this point.

Go!

Genesia said:

Ernest, you probably should have gotten stitches - even if the bleeding had stopped. I agree with the others - you should see a doctor. The redness in the skin at the base of your nail looks like an infection. That kind of wound is too deep for topical ointment - you probably need antibiotics at this point.

Go!

The red is just dried blood. Once I let it bubble in peroxide for a bit, it's quite clean and looks decent. The nail is what's alarming visually for me. It's not infected. Infections HURT and build up puss, etc. None of that is happening. I'm kind of surprised by it. THe only pain, for the most part, is the actual skin on the side where the knife went in. Kind of like any time skin is torn and it's a bit tender on top for a couple of days.

I should state that the redness at the top of the nail bed, where the skin is located, is because if you look, I'm pulling the finger back a bit with my thumb, so I could get a better angle on it w/ the camera. The skin was being pulled taut a bit, which lent to the redness there. I spent a couple of minutes trying to get a picture, so I definitely irritated that area a tad in doing that.

I actually feel pretty lucky, despite not going to the Urgent Care, that it's not gotten worse. I have color and feeling. It's just so insanely gruesome! haha

ernestsewell said:

Genesia said:

Ernest, you probably should have gotten stitches - even if the bleeding had stopped. I agree with the others - you should see a doctor. The redness in the skin at the base of your nail looks like an infection. That kind of wound is too deep for topical ointment - you probably need antibiotics at this point.

Go!

The red is just dried blood. Once I let it bubble in peroxide for a bit, it's quite clean and looks decent. The nail is what's alarming visually for me. It's not infected. Infections HURT and build up puss, etc. None of that is happening. I'm kind of surprised by it. THe only pain, for the most part, is the actual skin on the side where the knife went in. Kind of like any time skin is torn and it's a bit tender on top for a couple of days.

I should state that the redness at the top of the nail bed, where the skin is located, is because if you look, I'm pulling the finger back a bit with my thumb, so I could get a better angle on it w/ the camera. The skin was being pulled taut a bit, which lent to the redness there. I spent a couple of minutes trying to get a picture, so I definitely irritated that area a tad in doing that.

I actually feel pretty lucky, despite not going to the Urgent Care, that it's not gotten worse. I have color and feeling. It's just so insanely gruesome! haha

Ohhhh...okay. The photo is deceiving.

Yeah, if you have color and feeling, you should be okay. (No nerve damage, anyway - which is lucky.) Just keep 'er clean!

What a bunch of hypochondriacs! Antibiotics, WTF? Thats how we ended up with MRSA.

This is healing up just fine. You will probably loose that bit of nail though.

Reminds me of the first injury i did to myself with my new set of knives, the exact same finger and place. I still have a slight curve in the nail on the side of the cut no scar on the ckin though. I was cutting lettuce, had to chuck it all away becasue my bit of finger was missing.

If you want any advice on on your perfectly adequate self management of this injury, wash it with soap and water and keep it covered if only to stop it catching and opening up again. A bit of antiseptic cream under the covering won't hurt.

Genesia said:

Ohhhh...okay. The photo is deceiving.

Yeah, if you have color and feeling, you should be okay. (No nerve damage, anyway - which is lucky.) Just keep 'er clean!

Definitely misleading, but not intentionally so of course.

I was worried about nerve damage, but it seems that all is well. Color, feeling. The only part not so feeling is the wound on the skin part. But that's just the wound healing, and probably some scab/dead skin that is forming. Scar tissue, in effect. I do let it bubble in peroxide about 3 times a day, sometimes 4. The topical stuff helps keep the outer wound stay disinfected, and promotes scabbing. I'm just REALLY wondering how this nail is going to come off. It's obviously out there on its own at this point, not part of the nail as a whole. I'm scared I'll snag it and rip the fucker off, so that's why I keep a band-aid on it, just to keep it protected.

Your finger seems to be healing well. Now, about that booger on your other finger...

My friend broke his ankle once

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hope yous all feel better soon!

luv4u said:

lazycrockett said:

sunshine that needed stitches.

Eeeewwww ewwweeeewww !

Ernest you need stitches and a tetanus shot. Get to the doctor.

I remember when I sliced my foot inbetween the big toe and it took 4 hours to stop bleeding. I went to the walk in clinic. The doctor froze the area and did 8 stitches. I can barely see where it happened now.

they mostlikely wont stitch it now..too much time has passed,

but he might want to check into a doc or something..to make sure theres no infection

and yeah..a tetanus shot..

i dont know..they got me with one and all i did was sprain my wrist,in looking at that they asked about the bandaid on my thumb..and i told them..

all i did was get a sewing needle stuck into the top joint of my thumb.. it only went in a quarter inch...

Yesterday the dead part of the nail popped off. Didn't hurt. I had a lot of dry and dead skin on the side of the finger, so I carefully trimmed it off. The top of the finger is a tad tender, but that's because it's fresh, new skin. Very pink, very new. It looks ghastly still, but it's healed up nicely.

I was rather worried for a while,... but fingers have that innate ability to heal themselves up quite quickly. Now it's just a waiting game to see how fast the nail grows out so it looks normal again. It's nice to not have to wear a bandage though (I did that so keep it from snagging on something and ripping the wound back open).

What's interesting is that you can see the wound's edge, and how the knife went in and how much space it actually covered when it cut into the finger. It still freaks me out when I think about it. It's, by far, the worst I've ever had happen.

Get to a doctor ~ Rubbish!

It's looking just fine with your self medicating self. Good job

Still looks nasty though....