Sliced tip of thumb.

Super glue, finger condom, duct tape, and winter surf glove

 

My advice? Remove your fingerprints like you said. Think of all the crime you can get away with from then on...

Btw, bro, total vet move looking to SI for medical advice. Look no further.

 

Brah sorry to hear. But you did come to the right place for medical advise! Si forums!

I actually just did this a month ago but ended up getting stitches- it was more like a 1/4 deep slice and about an inch long. If would suggest letting it heal at least a week so that it heals correctly.. I have found that you use your thumb for a lot more then you think.. Including griping your board for a duck dive. I still can't put much pressure on my thumb a month later. They do make water proof bandages but might be hard to fit one on your thumb.

 

hold the wound close, superglue coating over the top, then wrap it and go. thats what i did when i gashed my leg open with a fin and told the doctor i refused stitches if i couldnt surf with them. try not to get super glue inside the wound.

however (this is a diver trick) if you cut yourself and cant stop the bleeding and are far from medical attention, putting superglue in the wound will stop the bleeding

 

See my thread from last week. Same deal, but much worse on two fingers. Like DSUP said, waterproof bandage, crazy glue around the edges onto the skin, then a finger cot over the finger, surgical tape the end of it at the joint, then when you get to the break, tape out duct tape and two surgical golves (unless you have a winter glove, but even if you do, put one surgical glove on it and duct tape at the wrist. If you are using a second glove, pull it up higher on the wrist and duct tape it further up.... I threw on a 2 mil top just so I could tuck it all under the wrist of the sleeve, then I put my watch on over it and pulled it real tight....

Sounds lame, but after multiple 1.5 hour session in the cane swell over last weekend, I was water tight and bone dry after each session.

Just prepare for strange looks and Ebola jokes in the lineup.

 

I was gonna say zach should chime in but he's already on it.


One summer I actually wore the prints off my fingers, no joke. Damp gloves and hauling pots will do that. Had to get printed as I was embarking on my teaching career, and ink wouldn't work. Had to go get laser printed at the DPS.

 

Yes, this was definitely quarantine grade, space-aged, Andromeda Strain style precautions, but like I said, my injury was a bit different. I had flaps of skin that started at two of my knuckles and went all the way down to each finger tip, but the skin was still attached down at the bottom. And the cut was down to the bone, so when I got in the water, I had to ensure that the skin stayed in tact because it was not even healed to the point where the skin was re-attached completely. Had salt water gotten in there, the skin would have loosened up too much and when I removed the bandages, it would have taken the skin with it....

Based on your description, if you want to avoid Ebola questions and dirty looks, just superglue it together and buy a pack of the large, waterproof bandages. Use two for layering and visually, you won't look crazy and it will be a simple fix. Again, if you think that the "flap" of skin will stay intact and not completely fall off if the bandages get compromised in the water, then f it, just do what you have to do.

Again, mine was different, it's a week and a half later, I took my bandages off all last night to let it get some air. Both fingers are still not completely reattached and it still looks super gnarly. You can still see down to the tissue through the transparent skin that has semi-reattached itself. The finger that is not as bad as the other seems to be kind of mending itself quicker underneath....

Weird, annoying little injury that pretty much gets aggravated on a daily. Picking things up, moving stuff, just day to day stuff. sucks and its annoying, so take care of yours so it heals as fast as possible. I guess.

 

Chop your thumb off and use it as an a$$pon... Pu$$y

 

totally fist a girl with ebola/ or aids...
totally kidding about the ebola or aids but I would
take a latex glove, cut complete thumb off of glove then snug in right over your thumb like a little condom
seal it up with tape and put extra tape on it to ensure it wont come off
you can either repeat that with a few layers, put on surf glove, or just suck it up
are you afraid of infecting it? or it opening up again? if infection your afraid of youll be fine salt waters good for wounds

 

If I'm not mistaken you surf in NY? Did you make it out? I was not expecting what I got this am but damn it was good. Hope you got out, had some fun, and the thumb survived

 

Man I feel a lot better about the tegaderm patch I put over stitches on my neck in January.

 

Cut the tip off my pinky two days before heading to beach for summer. (yes I surf in winter too but I'm a teacher, so there ya go) I was using a ceramic mandolin; those things are dangerous when inebriated. Rapped it in athletic tape and surfed. It took 3 weeks to heal and still have no feeling in it, but no infection.

 

One handed brah... Come on!

I think I missed one swell which really didn't look great... Then took out the stitches Sunday night a week later- the next day was head hi and peeling. Lol

 

Stitch it yourself. I've stitched myself up more than once. Then wrap it up good.

 

Those things are accidents waiting to happen. The wife was slicing potatoes for a big party last winter when i heard her yell for me to come in quick. Blood everywhere...for hours. Lots of pressure, a blood clot stick and tons of gauze were used before it stopped bleeding. With her hand being wrapped up I cleaned up the mess and right on top of the last potato slice below the mandolin was the dime sized tip of her finger. Now she can only count to 9.75.

Of course the party was going to happen anyway so when she asked if we should go to the emerg. room I explained there was nothing to stitch up. Keep it clean and party on. Took about a month to heal over.

 

Wait wait hang on a second...goose did I just read that right? Your wife cut the tip of her finger off and you convinced her the ER wasn't necessary??? You sir, deserve a medal for that, hat's off to you.