Brmorgan
Addicted to ArboristSite
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2008
- Messages
- 3,248
- Reaction score
- 348
Ahhh man that gotta suck big time, I know how that feels also, I cut the same finger nearly off when I was still in highschool. Cut it with a knife in the boatshop while cleaving off wooden plugs, had it sewed back on and it turned out real good. Yours is much worse physically, when crushed that way it will remain shorter. I think Brad Morgan can share some insight on this type of injury also. Take care of it and hope it heals up quickly for you, for the next several months you will know its still there.
Pioneerguy600
Yep, I've done four out of ten fingers so far. Not bad considering I'd done that by age 25! Here's the right hand I shortened up in the jointer a couple years back:
That was my right hand, and while I'm not completely useless with my left hand, I'm very much right handed. Needless to say I pretty much had to learn to wipe my rear all over again! Seven years ago (holy crap, I can't believe it's been that long...) I got my left ring finger pinched in a stacker outfeed drop chain at the fingerjoint mill I was working at. It pulled the whole tip right off, including the entire fingernail right out of the nailbed. The doc didn't want to sew it back on at first, he said there was only a 50% chance it would survive. I said as long as it's better than zero I wanted to try. It turned out fairly well, but is pretty much numb. I can feel pressure but I couldn't tell you if I was pressing on a tabletop or a thumbtack; still, it's better than nothing. I returned later after it healed to thank the doc in person and show him how it turned out - that seemed to make his day.
Joe, that sucks. I really do feel your pain! If you aren't already using them, see if you can get some dressings for that finger called "Adaptic Digit" like these:
http://esafetyproducts.com/mm5/merc...roduct_Code=31622&Category_Code=Adaptic_Digit
They roll on like a condom. They hurt like a MOTHER:censored: when you force them over the end, but they're SO worth it. They aren't all bulky and in the way, and the pressure of the dressing really helps with the throbbing pain. The nurses at the hospital here said they'd never seen anybody with three tip injuries like I had that was willing to take the pain. They didn't want to keep giving them to me at first, since apparently they're quite expensive and I was going through three a day for three weeks, but I insisted since I pay my taxes and feel entitled to what works best, so they kept giving them to me.
Also, as far as the pain goes, the key with that is anti-inflammatories like Ibuprofen. They gave me a prescription for its big brother, Keterolac, and that really did the trick. It's not kind to your stomach though, and you can only take it for a couple weeks at most. I also got a scrip for Dilautid, a very strong morphine-type pill the doc said they normally gave to terminal cancer patients. That stuff was fun but I didn't use it much. Still have a dozen or so for a rainy day.
Good luck Joe. Going by my own experiences, I'd say 6 weeks is probably a tad on the optimistic side. It'll look pretty decent by then, but mine weren't completely healed over for a couple months and were incredibly sensitive for many more. The cold really bothers them especially. Did you lose the whole fingernail? As you can see from my pictures, I lost a fair bit of length on my index finger but didn't lose the nail bed. Now it tends to want to grow right around the tip of the finger since there's no flesh underneath to keep it growing straight. It's not bad though, it kinda protects the tip.
You'll get used to the new finger quicker than you might expect, too. I can still type over 70 WPM with four buggered fingers, two of which are significantly numbed. The thing I have the biggest problem with is handling small screws (not a good combo for working on chainsaws!) because my right hand is functionally limited, and I don't have the best co-ordination with my left.
PS - please tell me that this isn't your woodsplitter:
<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sUUPKEk6ds4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sUUPKEk6ds4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
Last edited: