Fingertip cuts - advice on how to treat

[tudorsailor]

Those of you who follow Delos will have seen the video where one of the crew slices the end of her finger. The skipper managed admirably. Reattaching the flap was the right thing to do. Steristrips work nicely Steristrips are very useful and worth having in your first aid kit


Having seen this I thought that I would post some advice on how to manage cuts and slices of fingertips. Especially those where the island of skin is detached or lost.


Fingertips heal well if kept moist, even if you lose the island of skin. So no need to panic in trying to find a plastic surgeon. Fingers have a great blood supply, so bleed profusely but heal well. Here are some photos from an article that show how well fingertips heal. They were all treated with 6 weeks of dressings changed only once a week

In the second photo you can see that even the fingerprint grew back!


Although the paper used opsite dressing, these days I use Compeed dressings instead. Compeeds are found in most pharmacies and are designed for toes but are brilliant for fingers. They stick well and keep the wound moist. I use them for all cuts and grazes in my hands. They stay on my much better than any other adhesive dressing that I have tried



I hope that this is helpful

TudorSailor

 

[sarabande]

Thanks Mr/Doc !


Any comments on haemostatic bandages and sprays as well, please ? They seem worthwhile to include in a serious first aid kit.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=haemostatic&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

 

[tudorsailor]

Thanks Mr/Doc !


Any comments on haemostatic bandages and sprays as well, please ? They seem worthwhile to include in a serious first aid kit.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=haemostatic&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

I have no personal experience with the field dressings that stop bleeding. However I did buy one for my own first aid kit a few years ago. In general, most bleeding stops with pressure.

Of course, I have a well stocked first aid kit on the boat but when mother in law cut her leg in my house, I had almost nothing. So note to self to make a first aid kit for home!

TudorSurgeon/Sailor

 

[maby]

Having minced the tip of a finger with a power plane many years ago, I can confirm that they can recover well. In my case, my wife managed to retrieve the bits from the offending power tool and get me to our local A&E department. A senior nurse took a look at it and told me that I was lucky that they were lightly loaded that afternoon. She then sat with a magnifying glass, a pair of forceps and the wreckage of my finger and pieced it back together again - rather like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. She held it all in place with steristrips, gave me a big dose of antibiotics and sent me away with instructions to not try to use it for a week. It's still attached now - a bit short od sensation, but fully functional. She did say that, if they had been busy she would probably not have been able to devote so much time to reassembling a fingertip and I would probably have lost it.

 

[cpedw]

For less severe damage, I have found that spray plaster is effective on grazes and the like, preventing nasty infections. It's good for the sort of injury that barnacles can inflict, for example. It's quick and easy to apply though it stings like **** for several seconds.

 

[tudorsailor]

For less severe damage, I have found that spray plaster is effective on grazes and the like, preventing nasty infections. It's good for the sort of injury that barnacles can inflict, for example. It's quick and easy to apply though it stings like **** for several seconds.

Opsite spray is good for wounds that have been close and that need to be made waterproof. https://www.amazon.co.uk/OPSITE-SPR...=opsite+spray&qid=1564057032&s=gateway&sr=8-1

I would not apply to a graze. Moist healing is much better - hence Compeeds

For fingertip injuries with skin loss, re-applying the bits of skin will result in numbness in the replaced parts. When allowed to grow in from the sides, the new skin will have sensation as the the nerves grow in too. Magic!

TS/TS

 

[rogerthebodger]

When I almost cut my left index finger tip off with a big angle grinder the nurse sowed the the wound closed and said to keep it wet.

It healed a treat and the wound cannot be seen without careful examination. I have lost a little sensation on the side of my finger but I can still type with 2 index fingers.