I smashed finger/thumbnails a few times when I worked as a machinist (I did eventually learn that it HURTS! and quit smashing them.) On one occasion, the pain was bad enough that I chucked a small bit into my drill press and drilled through the nail. When it broke through, my finger jumped up just a bit before I could stop it. No harm done, but the thought of what could have happened gave me shivers for years every time I thought about it. (Actually it still does as I write this, and the event in question happened in the mid-1970's.) On another occasion, I went to the ER (this must have been prior to the days of Urgent Care clinics) and they drilled a hole with a small hand-held tool that had a stop on the bit so it would only go through the thickness of the nail. I imagine it was sterile, too. I never had the courage for the hot paper clip option. . . or maybe I quit smashing fingers before I heard of it. Paul Bruesch Stillwater, MN On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 12:43 AM, Geoff Sykes <thetuner at ivories52.com> wrote: > Yes the pain has diminished significantly. I went to see the doc this > morning and he educated me in all the horrible possibilities of potential > damage that could have been caused, and all the horribly expensive remedies, > including the drilling of the hole through the nail to relieve the pressure, > but followed that by saying that in the long run, no matter what course of > action I take, Acetaminophen and time would produce about the same results, > only a bit slower and a lot less expensively. He offered to give me a > prescription for Vicodin but I foolishly turned it down. I’m not quite brave > enough to drill a hole in my thumb, (thoughts of trepanation come to mind), > and in a day or so the swelling will subside all by itself. He gave me a > cute little splint so I wouldn’t hit it accidently, told me my hand modeling > days were over because the nail will likely be deformed from now on, and > sent me home. I, instead, went to my first appointment. Ya know, having > thumbs sure makes a lot of things easier to do. Not having my left thumb at > the moment makes simple things, like tying my shoe laces, very difficult. > > > > Thanks for the support everyone. I feel much better! > > > > -- G > > > > > > • *Geoff Sykes, RPT* > • *323-478-9276* > • www.ivories52.com > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101209/f42f1e24/attachment-0001.htm>
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