posted
I was handling a box-cutter at home, and I severely sliced open my thumb.
My doctor told me the antiseptic ointments do next-to-nothing. Is there anything that will help? My thumb is 1/3 the way cut through and I really don't want to be in the E.R. until 4am again.
I'm all stitched up, but I'm unsure whether it's infected. Anybody have any suggestions? I'm not supposed to put any harsh chemicals on there like alchohol or hydrogen peroxide because they eat away the stitches.
Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
It's not out of the ordinary on the surface, but it's a really deep slice. Down to the tendon. Is there anything I can put on it that will penetrate down to there? Maybe I should ask for some antibiotics from my regular doctor....
EDIT: I never answered what color it was. It's red along the line of the slice, but that's normal. It just hurts to bend it a lot. I can still use the thumb, I just can't bend it at the upper joint.
[ October 11, 2003, 12:48 AM: Message edited by: Nick ]
Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
I'm not sure what to tell you. Doesn't sound too bad other than very painful. Almost everything you buy over-the-counter will say "do not use in deep penetrating wounds." If you don't want to spend all night at an ER, what about an all-night drugstore? A pharmacist might suggest something and you'd probably be in and out without a long wait.
Oh, and glad you liked that Indian joke...it's an old one but I rewrote it some. But not the punch-line, that's the best part.
posted
Um, I haven't heard you say anything suggesting that you need to do anything at all right now. I would follow the instructions you were given by the doc who stitched it up.
You sound like you had a clean cut, and got it stitched up right away, am I right? They probably flushed the wound out before they put the stitches in. They probably either gave you a tetanus shot or decided your last tetanus shot was still active. Topical antibiotics won't do too much since the wound is stitched, and oral antibiotics aren't recommended if the wound is clean and was stitched within 12 hours of the accident. Hydrogen peroxide type agents are bad for wound healing and should be avoided. Some bloody drainage would be normal the first day or two.
If it is beginning to look infected with aworsening, spreading redness, warmth, or pus is oozing out, you should return to an ER or doc in a box clinic for evaluation for oral antibiotics and stitch removal.
posted
Yes, unfortunately, hydrogen peroxide is bad. I already put it only there when I first made the cut not realizing that it was bad for it. When I got the E.R., the doctor told me that was a mistake but it was easily remedied with some flushing fluid. He took this squirt-bottle thing that had a tip on it and jammed it in the wound while squirting water all up in there, and the put betadine(sp?) on the surface right before stitching.
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posted
You would have to ask some with some actual medical training, why exactly its bad, but hydrogen peroxide in higher concentrations will produces some mighty nifty burns.
its a highly reactive substance, so it kills cells, good and bad by destroying structures that they need to live, (the outer cell membrane would be my guess, but i don't really know.) I think that the stuff they sell in the drug store is only what? 1% h202? something small.
Posts: 1621 | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
You can do what I did when I sliced my pinky in much the same way: slow down the bleeding (by not moving it so much), then put a tight bandaid on it. Take it easy on the thumb until it starts to heal.
I've got a scar from it, but I scar anyways because of my skin type (I've got keloid skin - however you spell it).
Posts: 851 | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
What you want to do is tear out the stitches with a rusty knife and then rub your thumb in dirt. Posts: 767 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Studies have shown that some agents, such as hydrogen peroxide, inhibit optimal wound healing. It's not going to kill you, but it won't give plastic-surgery-type results. The plastic surgeons are also avoiding betadine now, but in EDs there isn't much else besides just saline.
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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posted
or, lacking a bandaid, you can do what I did when I stuck my finger in the sno cone maker-wrap in in a paper towel and used scotch tape to hold the paper towel on. Keep wrapped very tight. Posts: 3493 | Registered: Jul 2001
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