Too late for stiches?

[m_asim]

So yesterday (Wednesday) I was multitasking and let those folder ladders bite my hand off as its internal parts slammed down - had a nice laceration, quickly washed the bloodied finger with water and got the blood to stop flowing before the pain started. Opened up the gauze after an hour put Neosporin on and closed it with another gauze.

Called doctor clinic and they are like we are busy, called urgent care they are like we are busy (I could hear crying kids (aka bug factories) in the background so I was like ok I will get the blood from leaking. Now I have to decide whether to chance it with the doctor place (with COVID19 lurking) or just let the finger heal on its own.

The laceration is at an angle where the top layer has come off in a flap and you could see the gooey insides but not to the bone (It was cool were it not my own bloodied hand). Did not have the state of mind to take picture. Its not in pain after 12 hours post injury.

The finger looks like the last picture (warning: not for squeamish) but only 1/3 rd as bad.
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-48382570

 

[motomania2007]

If it stopped bleeding and you can protect it, do so.

I am not a medical doc and have doctored my own wounds numerous times.

 

[budgie45]

Wrap it up keep it clean,I have loads of scars :laughing used to fixing myself up

So yesterday (Wednesday) I was multitasking and let those folder ladders bite my hand off as its internal parts slammed down - had a nice laceration, quickly washed the bloodied finger with water and got the blood to stop flowing before the pain started. Opened up the gauze after an hour put Neosporin on and closed it with another gauze.

Called doctor clinic and they are like we are busy, called urgent care they are like we are busy (I could hear crying kids (aka bug factories) in the background so I was like ok I will get the blood from leaking. Now I have to decide whether to chance it with the doctor place (with COVID19 lurking) or just let the finger heal on its own.

The laceration is at an angle where the top layer has come off in a flap and you could see the gooey insides but not to the bone (It was cool were it not my own bloodied hand). Did not have the state of mind to take picture. Its not in pain after 12 hours post injury.

The finger looks like the last picture (warning: not for squeamish) but only 1/3 rd as bad.
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-48382570

 

[rcb78]

Also not a Dr, but here's what I've done in the past. A finger splint, gauze and tape. Only clean with soap and water, you don't want to kill the good skin that's in there with alcohol or peroxide or it will never close up properly. A little neosporin topically is ok, but don't put it 'in' the cut. Once it's clean, you want to keep it closed to encourage the skin to grow back together.
If it gets infected, all bets are off and start thinking about going to urgent care. I'm pretty sure that once you check in, you can go wait outside and have them call you when they're ready for you.

 

[Yakoo752]

If the bleeding has stopped, there is little point in stitches. If you are afraid of it reopening, use super glue (cyanoacrylate) on it

 

[dagle]

If you're familiar with supergluing wounds, do it carefully with the edges of the cut as close together as possible (it'll set and heal in that position, it will join better and the scar will be smaller.)

if you are not familiar, go to urgent care and have them glue it. The flap will heal into itself, but it doesn't hurt to have a doc look at it and advise what to do. They might very well tell you to go home and let it heal without anything, which would be worth the copay IMO. I have a bunch of scars that suck (the scar on my forearm is prone to reopening even though its been 5 years), your skin and nerves are worth keeping in good condition IMO.

 

[mean dad]

You're on the far right of this chart.

 

[Blankpage]

I crashed one time and cut open left knee and both elbows. They needed stitches but I didn't bother. I also didn't clean them very well. All three got infected and oozed green stuff which was cured with penicillin.
At least clean it good if nothing else.

 

[Butch]

if you have to ask...

 

[DucatiHoney]

Oh, I've done that a couple of times now. I've never gotten stitches. I had one that bled for a week. Just a gentle ooze. Fingers are not fun. They're all nervy and full of blood.

My non-doctor advice: Keep it clean, change the bandages real frequently. You sweat, change it. You get a little dirt in it, change it. You had two meals with one bandage on, change it. You bleed for a couple of hours, change it. Let it air out for a little bit too. You'll notice it hurts like a mother as the skin dries and pulls on the wound.

Get your tetanus booster done for the next time you do it and buy stock in Band Aids. (yeah, you'll do it a again.)

 

[budman]

You're on the far right of this chart.

:laughing

Duct tape fixes all :cool

Good luck with the fingers.. sounds like you got some solid advice.

 

[sprorchid]

24 hours from the onset of the wound to get stitches. The sooner the better.

Not a dr. But have had mucho quality time in the ER and many docs have told me that.

I stepped on a big piece of broken glass barefoot in my kitchen. Bathroom is the other end of my house, hopped all the way to the tub to rinse check the wound, my house looked like a CSI episode. I was worried my dogs would lap up. The blood trail.

 

[doc4216]

Chicks dig scars!

 

[lizard]

John Rambo does his own stitching.

 

[KooLaid]

I cut my scalp open on a cabinet corner as a kid playing tackle football indoors with my cousin. My dad got the bleeding stopped and brought me home. My sister the family nurse got wind of it the next day and tried to bring me in. She and her friend at the old children's hospital managed to drag me out and the doctor tells her that 24 hours is too old to be stitch. It really should of been stitched now that I think about it lol..

 

[m_asim]

Ok. Its 3 days post mishap. The blood has stopped oozing out. The top part of the flap that was looking like dead flesh has gotten some color back in it.

I experimented with all kinds of bandages and found that those knuckle type ones are the best as they cover the wound on the finger just right. Also learned not to put too much Neosporin on it otherwise the bandage glue does not adhere to the skin.

Since alcohol is no no because it interferes with healing, what do you guys think of apply Iodine on the wound?

P.S. I realize that I need a real first aid box in the house. Luckily I got hurt in the garage and there was a first aid kit from the early 90s (have no idea where/who it came from) but it had a few gauzes that I grabbed to stop spilling the blood everywhere. Went to Costco and they had this American Red Cross first aid kit for like $26. I think I need one, since I am clumsy, but don't know where to begin.

 

[m_asim]

John Rambo does his own stitching.

I was seeing Skyfall on Friday night and there is this scene where Bond cuts open his pecs to take bullet fragments out and calling BS on how quickly he recovered!

After I got the blood to stop flowing, I had a peek of the inside of the finger, felt light headed (as if the blood was rushing out of my head) and almost passed out. Yes, I am a sissy.

 

[ABC]

Liquid bandaid for the win...

 

[CABilly]

Just keep it clean. Mild soap and water, let it air dry. I wouldn't put iodine or really try to get anything in there under the flap. The flap will probably eventually fall off, but it's a good natural barrier to the healing going on beneath.

Band-aids, or if you want to make your own a dressing called Telfa or generic with some tape would work. You don't want gauze fibers getting stuck in there. A little bit of antibiotic ointment is OK but not super necessary after the first few days.

A frog splint, or even just a stick taped to the back of your finger to immobilize it will help with healing (I once used a bunch of the wood Starbucks coffee stirrers for weeks to make a splint for a ligament injury). Make sure you don't just leave it splinted, do some ROM.

If it starts to ooze smelly stuff, gets much more painful, red, especially with streaking away from the injury, if you lose sensation or circulation, you should go get it checked out. And +1 on updating your tetanus shot sooner rather than later.

 

[budgie45]

Got any photos :laughing when I was younger working in slaughterhouses one time I put my arm in a sink full of knifes I didn’t know there was knifes in the sink because i was washing some blood off my arms and hands the water was red in the sink from other people washing blood off themselves ,I have a railroad scar from my wrist to my elbow from the knifes,I’ve cut myself loads of times working with knifes being a butcher,keep it clean let fresh air at it,bandaids make cuts sweat that’s why you need to air it out,

As long as there’s no puss coming out of it you’re fine run some dirt on it