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#274262 - 13/01/2006 19:32 Bad cut not healing
robricc
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
Around Dec 30th or so, I cut myself pretty bad with my pocket knife. The cut is on my hand right below my index finger. It starts at the top of the hand and wraps around to the bottom. I got 8 stitches immediately.

The stitches were supposed to come out this past tuesday, but the cut wasn't healing toward the top of my hand because I kept moving my index finger. The stitches finally came out today, but I still have a flap of skin not healed on the top of my hand. The doctor put 3M steri-strips on it to keep it closed. Those are supposed to come of on their own after a few days.

Once they come off, and I'm still not healing, is there anything that can promote the healing? I was thinking of getting some of that New-Skin stuff. Does that stuff work? Is there anything better?

I know I should just keep my finger still, but even when I put it in a splint it was still moving enough to open the wound.
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#274263 - 13/01/2006 19:34 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: robricc]
CrackersMcCheese
pooh-bah

Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2489
In my experience that new skin slows healing rather than promoting it. If the medical staff weren't too concerned I'd say just be patient.

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#274264 - 13/01/2006 19:38 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: robricc]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Superglue?
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#274265 - 13/01/2006 19:59 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: robricc]
DWallach
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
Ask your doctor about topical steroids. If you're trying to help your skin heal, these things aren't perfect, but they can be remarkably effective.

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#274266 - 13/01/2006 20:11 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: robricc]
Ezekiel
pooh-bah

Registered: 25/08/2000
Posts: 2413
Loc: NH USA
I think we need a photograph to make better diagnosis.

-Zeke
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#274267 - 13/01/2006 20:29 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: wfaulk]
BAKup
addict

Registered: 11/11/2001
Posts: 552
Loc: Houston, TX
Quote:
Superglue?


New Skin is just superglue with some disinfectants mixed in.
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#274268 - 14/01/2006 00:29 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: Ezekiel]
robricc
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
Quote:
I think we need a photograph to make better diagnosis.

I attached a pic of the gash before it was stitched. That's all I have at the moment. I'm not going to take the steri-strips off before they're due to. The pic is zipped incase someone doesn't want to see it, but has a habit of clicking every attachment they see.


Attachments
274404-finger.zip (100 downloads)

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-Rob Riccardelli
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#274269 - 14/01/2006 00:41 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: CrackersMcCheese]
robricc
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
Quote:
If the medical staff weren't too concerned I'd say just be patient.

I didn't go to my regular doctor because it would have been too far of a drive. I also didn't go to the emergency room because I would have been waiting around for over an hour. I just walked into a doctor's office down the street and paid cash. He seems like a nice guy, but getting any sort of info or hints out of him is like pulling teeth. He didn't tell me to get a finger splint. Then, when I asked about one, he didn't seem to indicate if he thought it would be a good idea or not.

If it doesn't heal, I may just go to my doctor after trying the steroid cream and/or New-Skin. I don't really care about the scar. I just don't want an ever-lasting flap of skin on my hand.

Oh yeah, if you're going to cut your hand, I recommend you do it with a Kershaw Leek. The doctor said it was good the knife was extremely sharp and made a clean cut.
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#274270 - 15/01/2006 17:46 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: robricc]
bonzi
pooh-bah

Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
Ouch!

I think I would try the glue, but how about running the idea with* your doctor first?

Zipping the pic was very thoughtful. BTW, what the fact that we asumed you would have a pic in the first place and being right says about this board and its members?


*) by your doctor? Ugh, prepositions are, I think, the most diffcult thing in English for a (Indoeuropean) foreigner to get right (articles being second, sequence of tenses distant third)
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#274271 - 15/01/2006 19:25 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: bonzi]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Yeah, well, you've got all those damned gendered nouns with all their special articles and pronouns.

What's so hard about English articles? You've only got three (and two of them are the same, really), distinguishing between a specific thing and a general thing. Or do you mean where to use them and where not to use them?
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#274272 - 15/01/2006 19:26 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: bonzi]
CrackersMcCheese
pooh-bah

Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2489
'past' or 'by' would be acceptable.

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#274273 - 15/01/2006 19:32 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: CrackersMcCheese]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Yeah, but "to run by/past" is more of a colloquialism anyway (which are actually the most difficult thing in every language since they follow as few rules as possible). "To discuss with" or something similar would be as accurate, and "with" would probably almost always be the correct preposition with them, as it would mean both parties were involved. "To speak to" would also be correct (in addition to "to speak with", but the prepostion "to" usually implies one-way action; I think "to speak to" meaning a discussion is also something of a colloquialism.

Sorry. I don't know why I'm going on and on about this.
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#274274 - 15/01/2006 19:36 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: wfaulk]
CrackersMcCheese
pooh-bah

Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2489
Yeah I agree its more of a colloquialism, but he seemed to be intending that use (I think!). (As Bonzi's English is pretty excellent)

"discussing the idea with your doctor" would be more correct - as you say

Well... you ARE the Grammar Police. I'd be worried if you didn't go on about it!


Edited by Phil. (15/01/2006 19:38)

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#274275 - 15/01/2006 20:04 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: wfaulk]
bonzi
pooh-bah

Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
Quote:
Yeah, well, you've got all those damned gendered nouns with all their special articles and pronouns.

Yes, grammatical gender (is that what it's called?), seven cases (and I don't know how many declensions) are not very simple for a foreigner, I immagine Where have you been exposed to those?

Quote:
What's so hard about English articles? You've only got three (and two of them are the same, really), distinguishing between a specific thing and a general thing. Or do you mean where to use them and where not to use them?

Well, for example, I remember (vaguelly - it was 30 years ago) learning about 17 situations where definite article is ommited, although by general rules it should be there... (Eg. one goes to the prison to visit somebody, but to prison to serve time, or something like that)
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#274276 - 15/01/2006 20:12 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: wfaulk]
bonzi
pooh-bah

Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
Quote:
Yeah, but "to run by/past" is more of a colloquialism anyway (which are actually the most difficult thing in every language since they follow as few rules as possible). "To discuss with" or something similar would be as accurate, and "with" would probably almost always be the correct preposition with them, as it would mean both parties were involved. "To speak to" would also be correct (in addition to "to speak with", but the prepostion "to" usually implies one-way action; I think "to speak to" meaning a discussion is also something of a colloquialism.

Sorry. I don't know why I'm going on and on about this.

As Phil said (thanks, Phil, BTW!), you are the Grammar Police, you are expected to talk about those things.

I should learn to avoid colloquialism unless I am quite certain about them. I knew "to discuss with", "to talk to", "to speak with", but this particular idiom somehow sounded cooler in the context...
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#274277 - 15/01/2006 20:18 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: bonzi]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
In Croatian? Never. The only Croatian I've ever heard has come out of the mouth of Goran Visnjic (and, maybe, Mira Furlan). But English seems to be the only language on the planet where you don't have genders that aren't related to biological gender.

And, yeah, I guess those occasional places where you don't use an article at all are odd. I think the issue is that when you're talking about going to prison (for internment) you're talking about a concept more than either a specific or general place. Same with school. And there's a difference between British and American on that front, too. Americans "go to the hospital" whereas Brits "go to hospital".
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#274278 - 15/01/2006 20:21 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: wfaulk]
CrackersMcCheese
pooh-bah

Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2489
Quote:
Americans "go to the hospital" whereas Brits "go to hospital".


Again it depends on if you're visiting someone or going for an operation etc. I would use either of the above.

I'd go to hospital to have my appendix removed, but I would go to the hospital to visit my friend.

Edit: Just re-read your post and think thats probably what you just said


Edited by Phil. (15/01/2006 20:25)

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#274279 - 15/01/2006 21:13 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: robricc]
Laura
pooh-bah

Registered: 16/06/2000
Posts: 1682
Loc: Greenhills, Ohio
Cool war wound
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#274280 - 15/01/2006 22:28 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: wfaulk]
TigerJimmy
old hand

Registered: 15/02/2002
Posts: 1049
Quote:
But English seems to be the only language on the planet where you don't have genders that aren't related to biological gender.


I have read somewhere, I forget where, that English used to have gender. This is almost entirely gone from the language, but it is the reason why ships are referred to as "she". Interesting.

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#274281 - 15/01/2006 23:55 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: robricc]
Ezekiel
pooh-bah

Registered: 25/08/2000
Posts: 2413
Loc: NH USA
Rob,
OWCH.

I was going to make a silly comment about using leeches to clean any dead tissue, but that's a pretty serious cut. Get a second opinion from your regular MD if you don't like what you see with the steri-strips off.

-Zeke
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#274282 - 16/01/2006 05:32 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: robricc]
lectric
pooh-bah

Registered: 20/01/2002
Posts: 2085
Loc: New Orleans, LA
Yikes.... A cut like that would take a while to heal. The endoderm to heal first; THEN the epiderm. You need stitches, really. That cut goes all the way in and you could get nastily infected. See a proper doctor. Two weeks is not a reasonable time for you to expect that to heal. It could take up to six weeks before it really gets better, and that's WITH stitches. Leaving it open will make it take MUCH longer.

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#274283 - 16/01/2006 08:22 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: TigerJimmy]
julf
veteran

Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Quote:
I have read somewhere, I forget where, that English used to have gender.

Well, that's from the time when English used to be a Germanic language

For an opposite example, in Finnish, you can have a rather long conversation about a third person without revealing the gender of the person - instead of "He", "She" and "It", Finnish has "Hän" (He/She) and "Se" (It). I think the same applies for Estonian.

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#274284 - 16/01/2006 08:56 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: julf]
tahir
pooh-bah

Registered: 27/02/2004
Posts: 1913
Loc: London
Quote:
Well, that's from the time when English used to be a Germanic language


What's it defined as now, it's not Indo-European is it?

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#274285 - 16/01/2006 09:42 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: robricc]
tahir
pooh-bah

Registered: 27/02/2004
Posts: 1913
Loc: London
Quote:
If it doesn't heal, I may just go to my doctor after trying the steroid cream and/or New-Skin. I don't really care about the scar. I just don't want an ever-lasting flap of skin on my hand.


I've asked a few people and they've all said that you need to make sure you're eating well as this will help your body heal itself. Plenty of fresh fruit and veg, apparently stress also inhibits healing, so get de-stressed too.

Major problem though is the location of it, there's always going to be a lot of movement in that piece of skin, even with steri-strips or whatever.

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#274286 - 16/01/2006 11:53 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: robricc]
jimhogan
carpal tunnel

Registered: 06/10/1999
Posts: 2591
Loc: Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
(terse reply over bandit wireless from my sister's kitchen...)

After steri-strips fall off? more steri strips.

The ideal cut: right angle to skin so, with luck, both edges retain good capillary blood flow. At an angle, one side of cut may more likely have impaired blood flow to dermis. Less blood flow == less enthusiastic participation in healing -- may just refuse to join in. Spuerglue nice to keep edges in place, but can't make skin play ball.

IANAPS.
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'Tis the exceptional fellow who lies awake at night thinking of his successes.

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#274287 - 16/01/2006 12:29 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: tahir]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Virtually every language in Western Europe is Indo-European, including German and English, and always have been. Common exceptions are Finnish, Hungarian, and Basque. English is still a Germanic language, even if it has lost its genders, and even though so much of the vocabulary is Italic.
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#274288 - 16/01/2006 12:37 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: wfaulk]
tahir
pooh-bah

Registered: 27/02/2004
Posts: 1913
Loc: London
Quote:
Virtually every language in Western Europe is Indo-European, including German and English, and always have been. Common exceptions are Finnish, Hungarian, and Basque. English is still a Germanic language, even if it has lost its genders, and even though so much of the vocabulary is Italic.


Gotcha, thought Germanic was a different group.

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#274289 - 16/01/2006 12:54 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: lectric]
robricc
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
Quote:
...You need stitches, really...

I did get stitches. They're out now and just the top of my hand isn't healing right. The steri-strips are still on because I have been careful not to get them too wet. I still have the spint on to keep my finger from moving too much.

I'm sure it will just take time, but having the wound open constantly isn't helping it heal.
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80GB 16MB MK2 090000736

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#274290 - 16/01/2006 13:06 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: wfaulk]
julf
veteran

Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Quote:
English is still a Germanic language, even if it has lost its genders

Officially, yes. But it is a case of the old axe that is on it's third head and sixth handle - how much of a language can you replace and change and still claim it's the original?

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#274291 - 16/01/2006 13:36 Re: Bad cut not healing [Re: julf]
Robotic
pooh-bah

Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
Quote:
Quote:
English is still a Germanic language, even if it has lost its genders

Officially, yes. But it is a case of the old axe that is on it's third head and sixth handle - how much of a language can you replace and change and still claim it's the original?

LOL
Why does that line about the axe make me think of Christianity?
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