Did almost the exact same thing to my middle finger a few years back. If the pain comes back, use a hot compress to reopen the hole and relieve the pressure again. Make sure to keep it clean. Best wishes for a fast recovery.

The image of you dancing around in pain at the dump is kinda funny. But not funny enough to laugh dare Karma come bite me in the finger nail.

Been there, done that, a few times, once with a small drill, more with a hot paper clip. As gruesome as it sounds, the pain after the three second procedure is a small fraction of the pain before the procedure.

Ouch. Never thought to poke a hole in my nail when I had blood under there.

I recently hit my middle finger with a hammer so hard it split the skin on the side of my finger and squirted blood. Makes me think that is the result my body would produce if I fell from a 10 story building.

You got my sympathy. Done that a number of times over the years myself.

quote:

Originally posted by PorterN:
The image of you dancing around in pain at the dump is kinda funny. But not funny enough to laugh dare Karma come bite me in the finger nail.

It was enough to get the other guys to pause and watch. Some were noticeably amused. The hole clotted and pressure built again while we were out on the town tonight. Hurt and throbbed far beyond it's size and severity. Got home and soaked the finger to soften the plug then excavated it out with one of Mrs DF's syringes. She wanted to do it, but even though she's a medical provider, I curtly declined. Gingerly dug at the clot and out spewed another stream of blood. Dang man! feels better, but I doubt I'll sleep much tonight.

I've done the hot paperclip thing but it still SUCKS to smash your finger hard enough to have to do it.

Monkey, thanks for the superglue tip. Wish I had that knowledge years ago.
All this time I've been using it just on cuts.

That kind of thing is a daily hazard with my work. Just the other day I got my thumb on the left hand pinched between a car's frame cross member and transmission jack platform. It only caught the edge of the thumb and didn't do any real damage other than being sore for a while, but it was pinched tight enough that I couldn't get it out by myself, either.

Yeah, I've done that as well but on my big toe. I heated up a large pin from the wife's sewing kit and it did the job pretty well. My toe sure felt better afterwards.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Kudos. I have a hard time sterilizing my Dremel for surgical work.

That's what your oxyacetylene torch is for

One morning some years back I was in a hurry to get to work. I backed out of the garage and got out to close the door...which had no handles. I would normally reach up and grab between the panels, pulling down and releasing my grip before it closed enough to catch me. This day, however, I was distracted by being late, and it was in the winter, so the door didn't close as freely as it normally would. I had to pull just that much harder and keep my fingers in there just that much longer and ... yep. I mushed three fingers on one hand and the same three fingers on the other hand.

I felt like a cartoon character with the pulsing blue fingers when I walked into work. One of my co-workers grabbed one of the battery operated cautery sticks and burned holes in all six nails. Instant relief.

Since then I've kept one of those around and have had to use it once or twice.

A soldering iron would work great too.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:...One of my co-workers grabbed one of the battery operated cautery sticks and burned holes in all six nails. Instant relief....

That has been my experience, pain gone instantly.

I know this is kind of impolite to ask, but did you say bad words whilst jumping around? Can you repeat some or all of them here. Just for scientific purposes of course. I'd like to expand my vocabulary for when I run into similar situations.

As I recall, I invented a few more words that you can't say on television.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
One of my co-workers grabbed one of the battery operated cautery sticks and burned holes in all six nails.

Is the device they used for this also used to remove skin tags?

Have used needles and paper clips. Much prefer the paper clip as it makes a cleaner hole. feersum dreadnaught is absolutely right on the pro tip. Don’t need or want any dremels or other tools imparting rotational energy. A red hot paperclip burns through cleanly, simply, and sterilely (if that is even a word). Don’t much like smashed fingers, but am comfortable that I can handle the problem if/when it occurs.

quote:

Originally posted by deepocean:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
One of my co-workers grabbed one of the battery operated cautery sticks and burned holes in all six nails.

Is the device they used for this also used to remove skin tags?

You can, but I'd imagine it would hurt like hell without any local.

One of these.

You might check into getting a tetanus shot if it has been a while.

quote:

Originally posted by deepocean:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
One of my co-workers grabbed one of the battery operated cautery sticks and burned holes in all six nails.

Is the device they used for this also used to remove skin tags?

I use nail clippers for those.....

So the answer for preventing another clot from forming and allowing the nail to drain was a bandaid with a moistened pad. This kept the hole soft and open. This morning there was a good amount of seepage on the bandaid and no more pain. Later tonight I'll do as Monkey suggests and fill it with superglue.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
You can, but I'd imagine it would hurt

After I had kidney stone pain on an airplane flight, my view of how much other things hurt changed significantly.

What exactly are battery operated cautery sticks normally used for in an ER or hospital environment? I'm guessing there is a purpose beyond what we have mentioned, and I'm curious what else this can be used for.