In case you don't already have them in your medicine cabinet, butterfly closures would be a good addition. I carelessly sliced open my left thumb with an Exacto knife yesterday afternoon, and without a butterfly would have had to go to town for stitches.
The ones we have are Johnson & Johnson, size medium (1-3/4" long) and come in a back of ten for less than $2. They are latex, so wouldn't be good for anyone with a latex allergy.
Doreen in Alabama
YEEEOUCH! I hope it heals with no complications.
Beverly
Thanks, Beverly. I think it's going to be fine. It bled mightily, probably because of the aspirins I'd taken earlier in the day, so shouldn't get infected. Looked pretty good when I changed the bandage this morning; the butterfly still is holding the edges securely together.
Funny thing, in years of using rotary cutters, I haven't cut myself. Rarely use an Exacto, but whoops!
Doreen in Alabama
Butterflies are a wonderful invention. The problem with the knife is that the blade is so exposed. I leave that kind of cutting for DH, he has a steadier hand and far more experience using an Xacto. Juno
All, My nickname from my father was Murphey, as in that (in)famous law. Was slicing carrots one night on a mandolin and nearly sliced through my right forefinger. Levelheaded son heavily wrapped it in paper towels and then in ice in a baggie. Doc at the ER said I'd lose the tip of my finger but he applied butterflies anyway. Six months later the fingernail and skin had completely returned to normal. Lesson: Don't slice with a mandolin. Stop the blood with ice. Layer butterflies on until you look like one. AK in PA
Ouch!!! Good thing you were prepared, those suckers are sharp.
-Irene
I am so sorry, slicing your thumb is not fun. Yes, butterfly bandages are great to have on hand for such cuts. I hope the thumb heals rapidly with no complications. Emily
Much sympathy! You're right about butterfly bandaids, but those are no help where I managed to get my hand with the kitchen scissors. You see, I was cutting open a bag of cheese sticks when the bag slipped and I grabbed for it and got my hand with the scissors -- at the base of the pinkie on the outside, right in the crease. It has been interesting - I thought it had healed up when it popped open again and we're starting the process all over. The worst of it is that I very nearly did it again opening another bag..... Slow learner? :(
Ooh, I did that once. Didn't have any butterfly bandages, and the slice was on the pad of my thumb so they probably wouldn't have held anyhow so I washed it out good with soap and water, dumped betadine in it, dried it as well as I could then superglued it shut. An extra set of hands would have been helpful. As it was, I nearly glued my finger to my thumb in the process, but it held the wound closed just fine. Burned like heck, though.
Kathleen
Oww!
Never did like the Exacto knife series. If it's the sort I'm thinking of, they have round handles which never seems as precise or controllable as a flat scalpel handle, which is much my prefered craft knife.
Or else Super Glue, which is used to close some surgical sites where there is not a lot of tension on the wound.
Hmmph. When I have a wound, I have great tension.
That stuff really *stings*, unless you're under general anesthesia.
Beverly
"AK&DStrohl" wrote in news:45e9e9d5$0$6842$ snipped-for-privacy@news.enter.net:
invest in a chainmail glove for using the mandolin. you can make butterfly bandages with bandage adhesive tape, just cut a length & twist in the middle. my mom was a nurse & that's how she patched up us kids ;)
lee
I get to play with the good bandages as an EMT. We have some nice small wound closures that work great and stick like you wouldn't believe. I'll have to look up the manufacturer and post it. We also have some nice glue for use on wounds. It is basically a medical version of super glue. I also use regular super glue on my dry skin in the winter. Works great on those skin cracks.
My doc told me to use it on heel cracks, which I get especially in the winter. Trying to do better, got some gooey stuff to put on, and a rasp to remove callus....it's just that it's boring! LOL!
Pogonip wrote: >
What do you use to remove calluses?
I have ended up with a pumice stone from the janitorial supply place -- it's a bar about 1 x 1.5 x 9 inches. After I shower, I put hand sanitizer on it (it doesn't goop up as much as lotion) and "sand away" at the calluses. Works great.
I have a gadget from Dr. Scholl's section of the store - it looks like a rasp. It works, although slowly. But if it took off great hunks, it would probably take some of me with it, so I try not to complain. There must be something wrong with the way I walk because I get these peculiar calluses on the side of my heels.
When I got whapped in the face with a diving float, the camp nurse didn't have any butterfly bandages, so she snipped a strip of adhesive tape a third of the way across in four places and folded the flaps in to make a butterfly.
Trouble is, modern first-aid kits no longer contain adhesive tape. I don't think porous tape would work for this. (The twisting trick mentioned later in the thread probably would, though.)
Poor nurse! I'd just crawled out of the lake when I went to see her, so I was dripping. Unbeknownst to me, what was dripping off me was
*red*! Nearly scared her out of a year's growth before she found out it was nearly all water, and the cut was only a quarter inch long.Joy Beeson
I read somewhere, although I don't know if I should believe it or not, that those are actually a form of athlete's foot.
If you ever go in a restaurant supply place or have the opportunity to get a real pumice stone (they're gray and rather dense), try that instead. I have tried the rasp things, the ceramic file things, and I am much, MUCH happier with the pumice stone.
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