Stupid injury... what to do?

Yesterday I sliced off a good section of the top/side of my left thumb with an exacto knife. While it's not enough to require stitches or a trip to the doctor, it is deep, ugly, and extrememly painful. It took forever to stop the bleeding.

I covered it with a bandaid a few times yesterday. Still super sensitive today.

Three questions...

1. There is some silver metallic stuff along the edge of the injury - not sure what this is, whether it's from the ruler or what. Should I worry about it for now?

2. Will the skin all grow back? I took enough off that it's noticable from the top; you can see the nice slant.

3. I'm assuming all I can do is keep it clean, treat with Neosporin, cover with bandaids, and let it air out a bit each day... right?

Boo-hoo. This sucks. I am a moron.

[highlans]

Originally Posted by tina

Yesterday I sliced off a good section of the top/side of my left thumb with an exacto knife. While it's not enough to require stitches or a trip to the doctor, it is deep, ugly, and extrememly painful. It took forever to stop the bleeding.

I covered it with a bandaid a few times yesterday. Still super sensitive today.

Three questions...

1. There is some silver metallic stuff along the edge of the injury - not sure what this is, whether it's from the ruler or what. Should I worry about it for now?

2. Will the skin all grow back? I took enough off that it's noticable from the top; you can see the nice slant.

3. I'm assuming all I can do is keep it clean, treat with Neosporin, cover with bandaids, and let it air out a bit each day... right?

Boo-hoo. This sucks. I am a moron.

If you still have something in it I think you should get it looked at in case it turns septic other wise just keep it clean and aired. Hope it heals soon.

[DianaB]

You might want to clean around the edges. I don't know what the silver stuff is but you don't want it to cause an infection. It might be residue of what you were cutting on. You could use some perioxide if it's too tender to touch. Then, yes, I would put neosporin on it with a band-aid until it gets scabed over then I would take the bandage off and let it air out and heal. Be careful and try not to break it open so you don't get an infection in it. Sorry this happened to you.

[Janet]

OUCH!!! BIG TIME!! I hope it heals real fast. Burns and cuts are so painful and it seems they always happen in the most inconvenient places.

[Emmsmom]

I would try to get the sivler stuff off. Then keep it clean with Peroxide. After that cover it with a Butterfly stitch. After I had my C-Section they closed me up with staples. Before coming home they took them out. After I got home one of the spots popped open. It was wide and long enough to fit a nickel in it. I had been through enough and refused to go back to the doc. LOL So this is exactly what I did. It took a good week and it closed up with no problems. Mind you I cleaned it with peroxide everyday and also put a new bandage on it as well. Good luck. hope you feel better.

[Janet]

Hey Tina, hows the thumb doing? Even asking I cringe, that had to hurt!!! It's been a couple of days...so I hope it's starting to heal.

[magnolia]

Suggestion for you (I recently went through a bought of cellulitis with my youngest and this is what we did per doctor's instructions):

Get some Epsom Salts - dissolve about 1 teaspoon in one cup of warm water (as warm/hot as you can stand). Take gauze pads, saturate them in this solution, place on your thumb and leave there for at least 15 minutes - do this twice a day. After you have done the soak, take some betadine (the red medicine - can be found at Wal-Mart - they have their own brand that is cheaper) and "paint" the area with a q-tip. The betadine will help speed the healing of the wound along with the epsom salt soaks.

If at ANY time you notice redness around the area that grows, gets hard, or red streaks start up your hand, get to a doctor IMMEDIATELY! That is an infection and the only way to get rid of it is antibiotics.

Good luck and keep us posted on how you're doing