Have to share a dumb moment…
On Saturday I was cutting a fence T-post up because I needed a couple of stakes. I was in a hurry and grabbed my angle grinder with a thin cutoff wheel, put on my safety glasses, and cut away. All of a sudden the inside of my right nostril started burning, I ran it under water and the burning stopped and bleeding started. Got that stopped and went back to work. Yesterday I woke up and my nose was swelled up, I iced it and it went down. This morning it was inflamed again and my wife told me to go to the doc. He had to slice the inside of my nose, pull out a 1″ long metal sliver and put in two stitches. OUCH…
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Sorry to hear that, but I'm missing the "dumb moment" part. It sounds more like a moment of bad dumb luck.
The dumb moment was there was a face shield on the bench next to the grinder and I didn't grab it, I always try to wear that damn thing. Forgot to put that in the OP
after i lost count on the metal i've pulled from my eyes... i have gotten better about use'n a face shield vs just glasses... but i still keep those little telescoping pick up small parts magnets around just in case i have to remove metal from my eyes... when that doesn't work i have the eye docs card in my wallet... but i've gotten pretty good at get'n em with the magnet...
cut my eye lid all but off once... had to have mirco sergery to repair the tear ducts... now i'm one of those guys who can blow smoke or milk or whatever our of my eye/ tear duct... the one way valve on my rt eye no longer in one way only
:)
man protect yourself ... don't think i've used up all my luck... but hate to keep test'n it
p
Ouch is right! Sort of a "China Town" moment (the one where Roman Polanski tells Jack Nicholson he's being too nosy.) Ask Don K. about angle grinders! Just before I used one once, he told me how he knew a guy that was wearing a face shield while using one and the grinder disc shattered and went through the face sheild like a hot knife through warm butter. Made me be very careful using the grinder!
Edited 10/6/2008 7:59 pm ET by Danno
Doc said 'There may be some swelling and bruising'... woke up this morning with a black eye and my nose is still kind of bleeding, I forgot how much a nose can bleed. I have a meeting with a client this afternoon and I look like I was in a bar fight.
fun is when you cut rebar that is bending down while you cut, and that spring back into your crotch... it was the first time i used an angle grinder too
I'm just sayin'
you have to be smarter than the material you are cutting>G<
un is when you cut rebar that is bending down while you cut, and that spring back into your crotch... it was the first time i used an angle grinder too Bet you only made that mistake one time.ML
oh yeah
I'm just sayin'
The only trouble I have had was when I was cutting a large chain link in two (mounted in a vise).
I was using a really thin cutting wheel and it bound somehow. I didn't even know what happened the grinder was laying on the ground and the wheel was mangled and I had a little cut on my leg, I guess the grinder bounced off of me on the way to the ground.
Webby
I'm an Emergency Medicine doctor and I think most people overuse our services even though that's how I pay my bills. However, having said that, anytime you are cutting or sawing or hammering and you feel sting on your face, nose, eye, etc, you should probably have it checked out. You would be surprised at what can fly into your body with minimal pain at the time only later to cause havoc. Most often it's going to be metallic and easily seen on X-ray.
I've seen framing nails from guns in peoples faces with only a tiny hole in their cheek.
BTW if you "get something in your eye" and can't get it out after 20 minutes come see me. Usually it's metal and it tends to hunker down and cause a rust ring that gets harder to remove as time goes by, and there is always the chance it penetrated the eye in which case you can lose your vision or eye if not treated promptly.
Regular gun nails in the leg, etc....save yourself a trip, man up and grab the sob with nips and pull it out. That's what I will do for 1K.
Remember, Rule #1 "All bleeding stops"
Rule #2 "If it's not my blood, it's not an emergency"
What you said is very true.
My dad told me about a guy where Dad worked running a fork lift and ran it into a light and the fluorescent tube fell down on his cage and broke. Man felt something on his cheek by his eye and brushed it away with a gloved hand--it was a piece of the tube and it cut his eyeball. Now he is blind in that eye.
Regular gun nails in the leg, etc....save yourself a trip, man up and grab the sob with nips and pull it out. That's what I will do for 1K.
No extra charge when the nail punctures an artery?
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Just got a Duluth catalog - they have special bandages to stop heavy bleeding - sounds like a good thing to send for, you guys...
I keep a few maxi's ( womens Hygiene) in the van for the "OMG, you're gonna die" type gushers.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj_oEx4-Mc4
The world of people goes up and
down and people go up and down with
their world; warriors have no business
following the ups and downs of their
fellow men.
Kate mentioned the blood stopper bandages. Any experience with them. Are they any good?
That's about the worst advice I think I've ever seen here. You're a doctor? Pretty blase' attitude
As an emt, one of the first things you're taught is that with penetrating injuries, you leave it in, stabilize whatever it is, and transport. Often, (and believe me, I've done it to myself) the bleeding is minimal til you pull the offending object out.One never knows what vessels may have been hit by a nail. Better to be in a hospital setting to start squirting. It has nothing to do with "manning up" (since most of the guys and gals here would have to be near death to go to the er in the first place).
In addition, unless you've got a great primary care doc who'll give em to ya with a phone call, some antibiotics would be nice after a penetration, don't you agree? Can't just walk into CVS and pick up a round of Keflex in my neighborhood. I've had a nail strike bone, nail actually bounced off, and the er doc told me that it's common to have a bone infection as a result.
Hope you didn't hurt someone in the long run with a flippant remark.........
Bing
Good thing you told HIM !!!Too late for me, though.I manned up, pulled the nail out of my neck, and was dead inside of 5 minutes.Now I'll never be able to play the piano.
Click here for access to the Woodshed Tavern
Edited 10/9/2008 8:25 pm by Luka
No, as a matter of fact there is little credible evidence that antibiotics used in that manner prevent infection. Keflex would not be a good choice these days anyway with the prevalence of MRSA.Knives in the chest, nails in the neck, then I wouldn't suggest home extraction, but nails in the leg below the groin, yeah I would. That's where most of them happen. Pull them out of the hand also. It's usually pretty evident what you can get away with. If you feel uncomfortable about it, and I can understand that, then by all means come in. I wanted to make the point that there is no special technique for extraction.You think that advice was worse than rigging up a two male prong extension cord to power your own house after a storm with your own generator and killing a lineman?Yes, I am pretty blase'. I'm getting more low tech the longer I do this and I think it works out better for most patients
I can understand how you would feel comfortable with certain things after working in an er; don't know that that means joe shmoe should feel comfortable w/ same.
It seems odd to me, tho, that you are recommending the polar opposite of what I, and every emt ever trained has been taught. In regards to the Keflex, I'm sure you're right as to there being better bug-killers out there now, but I find it hard to swallow that doctors prescribe antibiotics for punctures,lacs, etc. with no basis in fact for it.
As to the generator thing, I'm not sure where that comes from, but yes, If someone advised to use a double male cord and a generator to kill a lineman, then, yes, that would be worse advice.......
Bing
This is getting off the OP topic, but sure doctors prescribe antibiotics for inappropriate indications all the time. e.g. there is little evidence they help for bronchitis either viral or bacterial in otherwise healthy adults...there is little evidence they help for childhood earaches...they don't help in abscesses either which are cured by incision and drainage alone ( unless there is surrounding cellulitis). They should not be given for > 90% of sore throats. Those are most of the cases where they are over prescribed in the ED and primary care. There is no solid evidence they are appropriate for common "clean" lacerations, 6-10 % of which get infected in the ED regardless.
I really like your advise.But I got a really really bad hang nail. So I called for the EMT's. I would'nt want to see any of them sit on there butt's to long with out moving. Besides this way my insurance will cover it as an accident.:) :) :)Russell
"Welcome to my world"
Unfortunately, too close to the truth in many cases,
Yes they are good. I've not used them though. Chain saws, angle grinders, table saws....there's your major offenders for civilian wounds and they would be useful. The knife and gun club cause penetrating wounds and are usually OR bound for repair and the source of bleeding is not accessible to the bandages.
Thanks for the info. I work by myself, sometimes pretty far away from help. Might be worth adding one to the kit.
Never seen it in thirty years from a nail gun. But yes you can bet the charges add up fast for an angiogram and possible vascular microsurgery.
I went to the ER after I yanked the nail outta my hand, a 12d gun nail in the back base of the left index finger, point came out the front base of the annular finger.
ER doc xrayed and came back smiling, he said it passed thru the joint space and NO damage whatsoever ( but it would hurt like hell any minute now..LOL).
I asked him if I would be able to play piano, he said sure.
I said cool, I couldn't before I nailed my hand.
I think he heard that a million times.
Years later I developed a cyst where it came through the palm side, it got excised out and looked like a wad of cotton, Doc said it was probably from a hunk of something the nail dislodged on it's way through.
Wasn't even gonna go to the ER but a buddy of mine insisted I do, or he would walk off the job..and I needed him as my right hand man..the bastid. cost me beau coup $$$.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj_oEx4-Mc4
The world of people goes up and
down and people go up and down with
their world; warriors have no business
following the ups and downs of their
fellow men.
Joint space, now that's a different matter. There would be definite damage and the joint may need to be irrigated.
Sunbitch hurt like hell for 6 months, and then every winter for 5 yrs..LOL.
I think he did irrigate it, it was back in about '93..don't remember too well.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj_oEx4-Mc4
The world of people goes up and
down and people go up and down with
their world; warriors have no business
following the ups and downs of their
fellow men.
it tends to hunker down and cause a rust ring that gets harder to remove as time goes by
Been there, done that.
To this day, one of the most bizarre experiences I've ever had was watching my vision distort as the doc was shaving away pieces of my eyeball to get at it. If nothing else, it made me realize how crucial vision is to my sense of being(?) awareness(?).
Speaking of stupidity, I once managed to jam a screwdriver into the web between my thumb and forefinger. Right down underneath my palm about 1.5"
It took about 20 seconds for the pain (from dragging it down the bone in my thumb) to kick in. I don't know how I didn't pass out. Brutal, worst pain ever.
I guess you won't be picking it for quite awhile.
I cut myself when a piece of metal I was drilling started spinning. No big deal, but I ended up with a nice finger puppet.
AitchKay
PS I wonder if the photo was attached -- directions are unclear...
Nope, it didn't attach. Hmm...
Edited 10/9/2008 6:44 pm ET by AitchKay
Attached?AitchKayNope, struck out again.
Edited 10/9/2008 6:47 pm ET by AitchKay
When you attach a pic, you have to wait and wait and wait and wait and wait... for the upload to finish.You'll get a notice when the upload finishes.When the upload is finished, then you can hit the post button. Not before.
Click here for access to the Woodshed Tavern
Glad I didn't go back and delete that worthless post. I've learned something.Thanks, BroAitchkay
You are welcome.It's a common mistake for first-timers to that window.
Click here for access to the Woodshed Tavern
As I recall, I already owed you a beer from a few weeks back.Now I'm getting deeper in debt. AitchKay
Another finger puppet pic.AitchKay
Yup, that did it, Luka. Another question, though -- why do some images (like mine) sometimes appear overlarge, sometimes normal size?AitchKay
Your pictures show up at the size and resolution that you uploaded them at.If you want them smaller, use a graphics program to make them smaller, before uploading them.
Click here for access to the Woodshed Tavern
I'll try again.
I cut myself when a piece of metal I was drilling started spinning. No big deal, but I ended up with a nice finger puppet.
AitchKay