The heated needle, or paper clip, melts the nail, Wish the guys at the machine shop I worked in as a teenager knew about this. When I got the end of my thumb smashed between a steel frame and a swinging motor, blood painfully building up pressure under the nail, they advised me to drill it out, with a small drill bit chucked into a drill press. As I turned down the quill, it definitely hurt MORE, until the bit finally broke through the nail. As I watched the blood run up the flutes of the drill bit, relief was mine! A heated needle sounds like a much better way to go. Alan Eder -----Original Message----- From: Gary Doudna <doudna440 at gmail.com> To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Wed, Dec 8, 2010 2:16 am Subject: Re: [pianotech] Pain Hurts I would have to agree with Tom. The lancing of the thumb nail will relieve the pressure and quite a bit of the pain. I've done this several times with good results. The heated needle, or paper clip, melts the nail, and you shouldn't experience additional pain, but rather a sense of relief. Gary On Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 6:54 AM, Tom Rhea, Jr. <rheapiano at cox.net> wrote: Hi Geoff, et al, It’s funny that you should mention pain, because I empathize with you completely. A couple of days ago I was diagnosed with advanced Osteoarthritis in my left knee Yesterday, I was working on an Acrosonic Spinet with a broken D42 string (another long story) and had to be down on my knees removing it from the hitch pin. Needless to say, my left knee is quite painful – again! Hang in there with the injured thumb, though; it will get better. There is a technique that involves a sterilized, heated pin (an extended paper clip) that can be used to lance your thumbnail if the pressure and pain become too much. While you can do this yourself, it may be better to have it done by someone with experience. Draining the accumulated blood under the nail will allow the injury to heal faster though you will probably lose the nail faster. Don’t worry though, it will grow back out. I hope you feel better soon. Tom From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Geoff Sykes Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 1:42 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: [pianotech] Pain Hurts No questions here. I just want to complain because I’m in pain. I had a customer accidently bump the fallboard of his piano down on to my left thumb this afternoon. (I had not had the opportunity to remove it yet.) I swear I saw stars. And my thumb instantly turned black-n-blue. Funny, (ha ha), how we forget just what pain feels like until it comes again. I took aspirin. I’ve tried ice. I’ve tried heat. My thumb isn’t responding to any of it. Nothing is broken. It just hurts like H***. Thank you for reading this. I feel better now that I’ve had the opportunity to complain to someone about this insulting injury. All the best to everyone this holiday season. (ow!) -- G • Geoff Sykes, RPT • 323-478-9276 • www.ivories52.com -- Doudnas PO Box 68 Baileys Harbor, WI 54202 Doudna440 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101208/187930e4/attachment.htm>
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