Ouch, darn it! I cut my thumb, and yes, it was completely avoidable. Since my father likes to read the blog, I’ll say up front that there’s no long term damage that I can tell, and there’s no need for stitches.
Here’s what happened – I was working on a sample dovetail joint for a follow-up to my Woodpeckers marker review. I was carefully paring away some wood on the pins board, by hand. I recently purchased some sharpening equipment, but had not had a chance to use it on my chisels yet. Still, the chisel was quite new and still fairly sharp.
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My left hand was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I sliced a bit into my thumb. I was consciously taking precautions to keep my hand out of the way, but obviously there was a lapse in awareness.
Here are a few things that I learned/relearned:
- Running to the sink to rinse off the wound is a good idea, but produces a lot of blood.
- Running to the kitchen for paper towels to apply pressure with is a good idea, but diluted blood makes a mess.
- It’s a good idea to have new gauze pads in-stock, which I had.
- Sharp knife/razor/tool cuts close up really quickly but hurt like hell.
- I don’t use my left thumb at all when typing. Maybe on the spacebar, but that’s it.
This all happened maybe 20 minutes ago, and yes I took a photo, but it’s kind of underwhelming since the skin already closed up a bit and the bleeding stopped. Sorry to disappoint. I might post it up at a later time.
Dan
Holding a wound under running water removes the clot that is trying to form, resulting in continued bleeding. Wounds from extremely sharp blades, e.g. razors, cause less pain than where there is greater tissue destruction. But the degree of pain will be affected by the location of the wound. Fingertips have the greatest density of cutaneous nerves in the body, thus accounting for the delicate and precise sensation of touch that we have. But it also means a cut will involve a lot of nerves, increasing the pain. Sharp cuts do heal nicely because there is not much tissue destruction, the wound edges approximate very well.
Tammy
Stuart, that picture is gross. But I hope you’re ok. I cut myself so many times, I’ve also learned a couple of things: better to be cut by a sharp tool than a dull, jagged one; and it’s a good thing you didn’t put it in your mouth like I usually do (and been reprimanded for by more than one emergency room doctor).
Stuart
I know that running water can affect clotting, but my first instinct is to remove foreign particles that could have been introduced into the wound – wood chips, sawdust, etc.
The slice in in the inner part of my left thumb, approximately 1/2″ in length vertical, knuckle-hight.
Checking on it, it’s still bleeding a little, but the wound is protected by a flap due to the direction of the cut.
Tammy, don’t worry, I’ll take more pics later. =) Right now the only in-focus pic is one of the closed flap from the side. As I said, it’s underwhelming.
The first thing I tried to assess was whether I was in need of stitches. From the way the blood was coming out after I ran cold water over it, I would have thought stitches might be necessary. But I managed to stop the bleeding pretty quickly.
This brings to mind another would some time ago – I was trying to remove an O-ring with a sharp hook and somehow ended up hooking my pinky finger. Now I use a vise to hold a clamp to hold whatever it is I need to use a hook on.
Mrs. ToolGuyd
I leave you by yourself for a few hours and this is what happens?
And I could tell that you were injured just by looking at that photo. It’s not even in focus!
Stuart
That was an… um… artistic effect.
ted
Hey Stuart, I also just did this a couple weeks ago with a new, sharp chisel. I used that liquid bandage stuff – know about that? In the future, try it on neat, clean cuts. It’s not unlike superglueing the skin back together. If the cut is open (ie: skin torn away), don’t bother. Makes for a painful mess…
lens42
I read that clean cuts are more effectively closed, and heal faster, if you close them with tiny bit of super glue rather than a band aid. I haven’t tried this because I’m not sure if super glue doesn’t have some toxicity. Does anyone else know about this? it sure SEEMS like it might work well.
JeffD
There are two differences between medical grade skin glue and generic super glue. First, color, medical grade is generally purple. Second is price, you can get 10 tubes of generic super glue for a buck at the dollar store. The medical grade is $80. I use the generic glue all the time with no ill effects. Well, almost no effects. I do have this strange urge to eat duck on full moons. 😀
Stuart
Thanks for the tips!
I used Band Aid or Nexcare branded super glue a few years ago, but don’t know what happened to my remaining supplies – will have to buy a fresh pack when I replenish my gauze supplies.
Looking at the cut now, it’s definitely glueable. The wound is a little raised with a small gap of pinkish meat poking through, but it’s mostly sealed up.
There’s so little flesh on the side of my thumb that I wonder if I hit bone. I also noticed that the chisel is chipped. I wonder if that happened before the cut or after I put it down.
Rachel
Wow. Now I know where to get information about my son. You give me
tips on which tools to buy for Dad, tell me which cameras, GPS and other
electronics to buy, but neglect to tell me when you hurt yourself. Try and
be a little more careful. Also, glue may close the wound, but you need to
keep it clean. When did you get your last tetanus shot?
Stuart
haha, I did mention it yesterday…
The tetanus shot is a good point, and every adult should receive a boost once every 10 years. I went in for a booster last year around March. Still, it’s also important to remember that tetanus is more of a risk when suffering a penetrating wound outdoors. A clean chisel and dry wood is unlikely to harbor the bacteria that causes tetanus.
There were no cyanoacrylate or similar based first aid glues at the local store, but I did manage to snag a box of small gauze pads. Not that gauze is any more effective for this wound than Band Aids are, but it helps me be more conscious of it.
g0ldfing3r
When i was younger, my dad told me to put kerosene on any cut to stop the bleeding and its true. Now i just spray wd40 and it also stops the bleeding. Im not joking, this is really effective.
Benjamen Johnson
On the subject of tetanus shots, next time you get yours, if you haven’t had a DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) shot once as an adult you should ask your doctor for that. Especially if you’re around infants. Whooping cough is making a comeback and the pertussis vaccination wanes with time.
Got mine last year.
Maikeru
I believe that they actually sell those first aid boxes that you see in shops, offices, and industrial facilities to your average person. It might be a good idea to purchase one for one’s home workshop if one works in it often. Technically one can also mount a kids plastic (or steel if you feel like getting one of those just for fun) lunch box on some brackets on the wall near your shop sink and fill it with some first aid supplies.
Esther
I told you mom was going to find out about this if you wrote about it on your blog! I also like Janice’s nickname.