# Smashed Thumbnail



## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

OK. So I smashed the old thumb pretty bad last night and had some old meds to get me through the initial pain. Keeping it on ice, hand above my heart.... I was reading earlier this morning about piercing the thumbnail with a red hot paper clip to relieve pressure behind the nail. Didn't think I was gonna have to do that. Shew! Thank goodness!

Well, a few hours ago my thumb starts swelling super size, like one of those you see at a football game or sumptin' :thumb: and it looked like if I waited much longer the whole nail just might pop right off. And the whole thumb was just totally numb. So I thought it might be time to try to relieve some of the pressure. _Carefully_ cleaned the hand good. Rubbed some alcohol over the thumb and nail and then heated up a needle. Only the needle didn't hold the heat long enough to do the deed, so I tried the paper clip, which is what the med sites recommend anyhow. Took two tries through the nail, then the gush of blood came pouring out. Had to tease DW..."Want to see how much blood came out of that little hole"? :holding up the bloody napkin: LOL! Even as I write this I can feel more feeling returning to my thumb. Probably end up losing the nail from the initial accident, but I've dealt with this before except for the super swelling. This worked great at relieving the pressure behind the nail. Have triple antibiotic on it and will keep a close eye on it. Just the first time I'd heard about it. DW said she wouldn't have any part of it. :hysterical:


----------



## HTG_zoo (Apr 18, 2011)

my Dad keeps a sharp sculpting tool for such emergencies, I think all of us kids had a round with that thing! Thankfully haven't needed one since childhood.


----------



## pheasantplucker (Feb 20, 2007)

I've used the red hot paperclip trick a half dozen times through the years. Instant relief!


----------



## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

It keeps feeling better by the minute. Still swollen almost twice the size of my other thumb, but feels a whole heap better. Those funky colors are aren't as bright under the nail either. I'm just glad the initial pain hasn't come back. _That really hurt!_ First time I injured a nail a few years ago, I dropped the iron manhole cover over the cistern on it. I thought THAT was bad at the time. Nothing like I felt last night. The worst part right now is where the end of the nail feels like it is pulling away from the skin under the nail from being so swollen. I'll just be happy when the swelling goes away!


----------



## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

It just started draining a bit more blood through the hole. Will this go on for awhile or what?


----------



## HTG_zoo (Apr 18, 2011)

Yes and you want it to! Don't want infection to get in there or the pressure to build up again.


----------



## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

Sounds good to me.  Thx!


----------



## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

I've smashed fingernails to the point the entire nail came off several times. It just grows back.

Bit of trivia: Old timers use to time a sow's gestation by cutting a small notch at the base of a thumb nail. When the notch readed the finger end she was due to birth. Three months, three day and three hours (usually about 3AM).


----------



## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

I'm glad you got the pressure off before it could do any permanent damage. It relieves pain too. Feel better soon.


----------



## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

It's just more of an annoyance now than anything. Pain is all but gone (don't need any more meds) unless I accidentally whack it against something. Then it only throbs for a minute or two.

Woke up this morning and the pressure had built back up. Totally numb again. You could see where the blood had pushed its way all the way up to the scratching part of the nail trying to find a way out.

Went through the same procedure above and the swelling has gone back down again and still draining. There was slight bruising all the way around the tip of my thumb, but even that looks to be fading today.

BTW, if anyone has just bred their sow, just call me when you want to know they are due.:gaptooth:


----------



## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

You are going to lose the nail anyway. I'd advise to take a sharp knife or single sided razor blade and cut away the part which has detached from the finger.


----------



## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

:teehee: LOL - I'll come down and let you do it Ken. You're supplying the whiskey, right?

Nothing is hanging loose as of this moment. I'd take a pic and post, but DW is taking pics of the guv'na this afternoon so I have no camera at the moment. I may concede defeat eventually, but for now I ain't gonna go cuttin' off no body parts willy nilly....I don't think. :gaptooth:


----------



## HTG_zoo (Apr 18, 2011)

If you leave the nail until it falls off naturally, they generally get a kind of scab or thickened skin over the quick and hurt a lot less.


----------



## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

You might try some arnica too for the swelling.


----------



## pheasantplucker (Feb 20, 2007)

The summer before last I was splitting some wood. Mashed my right index finger good (not with the splitter, thank goodness!). Anyway, I smashed it so bad that the nail (after about two weeks) began to fall away. funny thing though ws that the top of the nail still clung to my finger. It was the base of the nail that left first. Everytime I stuck my hands in my pocket the nail kept snagging when I pulled my hand out of the pocket. I eventually took a box cutter and cut the nail completely off. What a relief!


----------



## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

Well, today just happened to be the day. I was putting my wallet in my back pocket and I heard and felt the snap. Checked my thumb and sure enough, the right side of the nail (from my view) that was somewhat loose snapped & pulled out from under the cuticle. I had to cut off the portion that had pulled out from under the cuticle so the nail would sit back down on the bed. Got my very first personal view of what's on the underside of a fingernail.

Ewww!!:yuck:

The left side is still attached up at the top. Still no visible healthy nail starting to form from the cuticle end, but you can tell that the nail has grown quite a bit as I've already trimmed it twice and the hole I created to relieve pressure is more than half way to the top now.

The thumb still has some slight swelling to it and kind of a numb feeling still on the touchy-feely side of my thumb. I can tell the feeling is getting better though as I'm now able to actually grasp with it more and more each day. Just thought I would update this thread.


----------



## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

Last summer I lost about half a big toenail in an accident and it took until almost winter to finally grow in. If you check it every day, you never see any progress. But it is harder to ignore a thumb than a toe.


----------



## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

Ed Norman said:


> Last summer I lost about half a big toenail in an accident and it took until almost winter to finally grow in. If you check it every day, you never see any progress. But *it is harder to ignore* a thumb than a toe.


Yep, it's going to be even harder now. :awh: It started peeling off last night and I had to go ahead and cut it away. The only place it was still attached was right at the tip top, but it came away without any kind of pain. Good news is the new nail looks to be growing healthy now that I can see what was going on under the old nail. Bad news is the end of the nail looks like I trimmed it with a chainsaw and that big dip in the nail isn't really all that attractive either. I assume that will grow out here in a few months? The new nail (healthy looking part) is probably a third of the way up the nail bed and it has been right at a month since it happened.


----------

