Slivers / cuts etc

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  • JerryL
    Member
    • Jul 2007
    • 35

    Slivers / cuts etc

    Hi All
    I am pretty careful around the shop and far and the chips / shavings etc .
    About a week ago I felt a sliver go into my right thumb. ( OUCH and )*&#)!*!!+()_ !!!!! and all that )
    I see what I think is it so I first try a really good sharp pair of tweezers , NO LUCK
    SO I squeeze and push with all my might to maybe pop out out a bit . ( No Go )
    SOOOO now I sterilize a very sharp pin over an alcohol flame ( leaves no soot . )
    I dig and pick and all that no go ,
    I put some drawing salve on it over night , in morning start all over ( No Go ) so I have a lady who was a nurse that don't care how much you scream as she digs and searches . Nothing ., By this time it's Tue . after labor day . it is hurting like he-l. so on Wed I get in to see the local family doc , he looks and send me for X Ray . There is a about a .011 -012 thousandth diam sliver that is 3/8 long that might be embedded into bone or cartilage !!!.
    He don't want to slice it open and says DON'T SQUEEZE ON IT ANYMORE YOU COULD BREAK IT IN 1/2 and make things worse .
    SO today I have an appointment with a Orthopedic Hand Surgeon and he will have to cut and weather or not he can do it in the office or in the hospital as out patient he will decide when he See's the X Ray etc .

    I still have no real idea what I was doing when I got it ,

    The sliver is not wood or glass it is metal but not sure what kind .

    X Ray nurse trying to be funny said why don't we just pop you into the strongest MRI we have and set it on HI !!!

    So it looks like a simple splinter is turning into a $ 2,000 - $ 5,000 nightmare .

    I thought about just getting a new X acto knife heating it up and numbing the finger with ice and then doing my own cutting !!! hahahahah.

    JerryL
  • laddy
    Senior Member
    • Feb 2003
    • 952

    #2
    Good luck! I am willing to give you a hand if necessary. Fred

    Comment

    • ptjw7uk
      Senior Member
      • Feb 2006
      • 1211

      #3
      I have had similar with wood splinters, I think the answer is that when you move your hand as in going to pick something up the hand will move with great speed and if the object is in the right orientation it will puncture the skin etc.
      I think you will be surprised at the speed and force we humans move our extremities I have of people breaking their leg by just trying to push their foot onto a bottom stair that isnt there.
      I wish you well with the doc.

      Peter
      I have tools I don't know how to use!!

      Comment

      • snowman
        Senior Member
        • Mar 2004
        • 2057

        #4
        damn!

        i work for a vet, i'd be borrowing a syringe of lidocaine and paying one of the other techs to go at it

        Comment

        • Scishopguy
          Senior Member
          • Feb 2006
          • 948

          #5
          Re: Splinters

          Unfortunately, they are a fact of life in the metal working trades. When I was a tracer mill operator, many years ago, the chips of steel would pile up around the machine to the point that you just walked around in them. With the soluble oil that was used on the machine, the soles of our boots became soft and the chips would dig in and eventually come through into your foot. I made myself a "sticker picker" from an old pair of dissecting tweezers by tapeing them shut and grinding the point to a medium point. Not to pointed so that they had some strength. Then I used an ignition point file between the jaws to get them parallel. These tweezers can dig out just about any sliver, no matter how small or large. I kept them handy in the tool box over my whole career and still use them today.
          Jim (KB4IVH)

          Only fools abuse their tools.

          Comment

          • wierdscience
            Senior Member
            • Jan 2003
            • 22085

            #6
            Noe magnet,rub it around and see if you feel a tug.If you do it's steel and most likely you can keep running it around in circles and work it out.

            When was your last tetnus shot?That's what would concern me.
            I just need one more tool,just one!

            Comment

            • Prokop
              Senior Member
              • Oct 2007
              • 358

              #7
              I got tweezers from Baileys:

              Tweezers

              they work fairly well. But for splinters I use art's knife with a fresh blade.It is better for the tissue to be cut than poked with a needle. Also my experience is, the splinter needs to "rot" for a little bit to come out easier - it is lubing after all

              Comment

              • S_J_H
                Senior Member
                • Mar 2006
                • 1182

                #8
                Slivers can be great fun. Right up there with smashed fingernails and a hot wire to relieve the pressure.
                A couple of years ago I was using my bench grinder with an old wire wheel. I had glasses on but somehow a piece of wire wheel made it into my eyeball. Embedded nicely. Painful. Had to go to an eye doc . He numbed my eye and dug it out.
                Great fun.
                Steve

                Comment

                • Fasttrack
                  Senior Member
                  • Jul 2005
                  • 6300

                  #9
                  91% isopropyl alcohol and an exacto knife. Thats what I use for the deep ones. Never had one get into bone or cartilage before though! yikes!

                  SJH - you know, wire wheels are what concern me the most when grinding. I'm not usually to worried about stuff getting in my eyes. Most sparks and bits of metal don't do any damage. But I always worry about a strand of wire hitting me in the eye. I had one hit me in the cheek and poke in pretty far. If I just need to burn a little material off with a grinding wheel, I'm likely to have at it without safety glasses. Just keep my eyes squinty and my head out of the sparks. When it comes to wire wheels though, I ALWAYS put on glasses. Too bad it didn't help in your case!
                  Last edited by Fasttrack; 09-06-2008, 07:13 PM.

                  Comment

                  • lwbates
                    Member
                    • Nov 2007
                    • 78

                    #10
                    surgery kit

                    I've had a surgury kit in my toolbox most of my working life. Top left drawer of the machinist's chest. Scalpel, Good quality tweezers, lighted magnifier, alcohal and a medium large (very sharp needle). If it's broken off below the skin you just dig for it w/ the needle or scalpel till you can see enough to get a grip w/ the tweezers (or needlenose pliers). The only time I couldn't get one out, it had corkscrewed into the heel of my hand and was pretty solid. I went to a local country Doctor and he just pulled his pocket knife out and sterilised it by wiping it on his pants and slit my hand til he could pull it out with his fingers. Big fun.
                    lwbates

                    Comment

                    • AZSORT
                      Senior Member
                      • Jan 2004
                      • 168

                      #11
                      best sliver tool

                      best tool for getting slivers out is my best tool in general: Linstrom electronic flush cutters, (dykes) absolute perfect edge good enough to snag the smallest sliver, stiff and accurate, and pointy enough to dig around through the skin.

                      Comment

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