Just managed to give myself a good and proper gash on the top of my thumb with a knife trying to open some cable ties. The cut is fairly deep, probably a couple of mils deep and about 3cm long. now ive kept pressure on it and the bleeding has stopped although there was a lot of blood. It looks pretty horrific but its not overly painful - do i need to consider seeing A&E or will a decent bandage/plaster combo do it?

dave

 

Hello

It depends what you were cutting with the knife beforehand and whether it's rusty or not. So probably not for stitches, but maybe for tetanus.

Steve.

 

its a quite large maybe 4" swiss army knife which hasnt really been used i just whipped it out because scissors werent doing the job doh

 

dont bother with hospital. my mates dad was drunk atour join 18th birthday on saturday. fell and put a DEEP gash in his back. needed 18 stitches. went in at 2am, was seen at 6.30am.

 

Aren't they just great??

I had a gash on my hand today.












Then she left for work.

 

Try your local health centre first - they may still be open. Also, some cities have minor injury clinics - prevents people clogging up A&E...

 

Is it right through the dermis? I.e. can you see the lumpy fatty tissue sticking out and do the sides of the wound gape? If so then it probably needs sutures. If the wound holds together then you can probably get away with just a dressing, or some steristrips. Flush it out with some mild savlon solution, dress and keep as dry as possible.

I've lost count of how many hours I have spent in casualty waiting to be stitched up after a good night on the toon!

 

When I sliced through my thumb and half of the nail with a stanly knife it was like that!

You'b be supprised what will heal on it's own, don't bother with A&E, they will not stich your finger.

 

If stops bleeding you'll probably get away with it. It'll probably weep for ages though.

I did a nice slash in my finger whilst cutting cable insulation with a stanley, went in pretty deep, poured blood everywhere (infact, with my stupid pain tolerance I carried on working and only realised how bad it was when the knife, hand, floor, cable were all covered in blood ).

First aid kit out, washed off the blood and dirt with water and antiseptic...bit useless as It just kept bleeding, so got an antiseptic wound dressing pad, held the wound closed and taped it up with some breathable tape...sorted The secreatry who decided to help, out of concern (although was so squemish it was rather pointless) was very insistent I'd go to hospital....but seeing the last few times I was there - it took 5 hours to look at a broken wrist, another 5 hours to sort a shattered ankle, 6 for a minor heart attack and another 6 hours for a sprained thumb! (not all me BTW )I thought "**** it" if doesn't stop bleeding after 4 or so hours then I'll go.

Healed ok, just a scar and the top of my figure has lost a little sensitivity

 

I wouldn't bother if I was you, if you're able to type, it can't be that bad. Seriously, all they'll do is make you sit there for a few hours, wash it & tape it up. You can do parts 2 & 3 yourself

Ah another person as sensless as me I ran a Panel saw all the way down the side of my thumb a couple of weeks ago, wrapped a towel round it & carried on. It's amazing how much blood comes out before it stops To paraphrase the great Tony Hancock, it must be 'nearly an armful'

 

Hmmm - not sure whether to go to hospital; should you call NHS direct or post to scoobynet - hmmm, only one place with all the answers - post to scoobynet!

If you are ever unsure of whether you should go to A&E, your GP or stay at home just call 0845 4647 and you'll get a straight answer. Scoobynet often gives funnier advice though

If you are hopelessly hooked to the internet, you can always visit http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/

My advice is to try to favour the other thumb when pressing the spacebar, it hurts less and keeps the keyboard cleaner

 

LOL! The worst place I have had stitches was, of all places, to stick the end of my nose back on after "falling" through a glass door. I had a "Daniella Westbrook" style flap consisting of the side of the end of my nose and the septum (centre of the nostrils) hanging down and it simply would not stop bleeding. After about an hour of trying to get it to stick back I was reluctantly bundled into a taxi to the hosptial.

Despite several injections each stitch felt exactly like having a nose hair plucked and it kept making me sneeze blood uncontrollably all over the doctor.

Not a pleasant evening that one...

 

sliced the side of my thumb open cutting open a broken speak and spell with a knife- very deep- bandaged it up, bled for hours, and now have a nice inch long scar down the side of my thumb.

 

Owch!

Last time I had stiches was when I fell off a bar stool and cracked my forehead open off the bar rail.

Stupid thing was...I wasn't drunk!! Still, there was a rather pleasent off duty nurse about at the time who sorted me out

 

Just an update - have stopped the bleeding completely and its not looking too bad, washed it out and done it up with some steristrips so that will do. Funny thing is it doesnt really hurt, ive had papercuts which hurt for longer it just looks more severe than it is

 

GET STRAIGHT DOWN TO A&E OR IT MAY NOT HEAL PROPERLY AND THE WOUND MAY OPEN UP AGAIN AND START BLEEDING. I DID SOMETHING SIMILAR YEARS AGO AND I NEEDED STITCHES.

 

You're having a giraffe im going to bed now

 

PMSL@Spoon

 

I would have thought that if you had time to turn your computer on and type the question without bleeding to death then a visit to A&E would be excessive!

Stick a plaster on it and don't be such a girl!!