Ortho. You sounded all Mothery until the PS. That sounded painful and scary.

It's a failing of us female docs. :o

Trephinating a hematoma scares patients, but it actually doesn't hurt at all. The trick is to hold the finger (or thumb) against a firm surface to minimize movement, hold your hand so that the patient can't see the cautery end of the trephinator (which is glowing), and tap very lightly in the center of the hematoma. It takes only one or two gentle taps and the hematoma releases. You don't touch the nail bed (that would be painful), you just go through the nail, which has no nerve endings. People get tremendous relief with it. You have to do it within 12-24 hours, though, or the hematoma starts to clot down and it doesn't help.

pop it.

you already have a beater with a sharp end, and you've bracketed the target perfectly. come on, it can't hurt any worse, right?

I'm just seconding orthodoc's opinion. trepanation...lol/ouch

Or a rusty pocket knife with a clip point blade...

... if you want a big old infection, sure ...

Ain't nuthin' wrong wit mah fumbs.

Germs are highly overrated.

At work, we used cutting tip cleaners to punch a hole in the nail. Just heat it up and punch Oh the joy.

Thumbellino
 

Didn't trephinate the nail, I've done the paper clip thing before but the blood under the nail didn't seem to be that plentiful.

I did slit the cuticle and that bled like mad and this morning was weeping blood tinged lymph.

Someone actually asked me why I hit my thumb with a hammer. With a straight face I told them my thumb owed me money.

"How can your thumb owe you money?"

I guess someone must have hit her on the head with a hammer. Attachment 45694Attachment 45695

That looks remarkably better after just two days. How's it feeling compared to before?

Much better, I'm surprised at how fast it's improving. I can bend it and touch it. I can't shuffle cards though and I've had to cancel all my hand modeling engagements.

It's trying hard to get better because it's jealous of your other hand getting all the action.

Ahhh .... hard to follow that one, Bruce. Everything is anticlimactic.

It looks fantastic, foot. For two days out, I mean. Although it's a generally fantastic-looking thumb. ;)

Or, someone needs to.

that's why they call it a climax, eh?

And then the nun fainted.