Log splitter injury (no pics)

[GPintheMitten]

Did your doctor tell you to elevate it? You do need blood flow.

 

[ruffdog]

Pain is good .....at least it means you still have a finger. It'll get better.

 

[s219]

Did your doctor tell you to elevate it? You do need blood flow.

Yeah, they remind me every time to keep it elevated. I just think I have determined it's not good to do that continuously. There is what looks like bruising at the base of the finger, which they said is a good sign that I was keeping it elevated and the injury was draining in the right direction (or something along those lines).

 

[s219]

Pain is good .....at least it means you still have a finger. It'll get better.

I agree -- I'd worry if it was numbness.

 

[ultrarunner]

They generally don't want it hanging low... at or above heart level is what I often hear.

As with most things... moderation is good... not too much at either extreme.

 

[PhysAssist]

Thanks for the kind words and advice all, I appreciate it.

Finger again looked to be improving at yesterday's checkup. Took out another stitch (leaving 6 of 8) that was pinching the skin. They want to see me again on Monday to make sure blood is flowing OK, so I suppose that is now a bigger risk than infection. I expect this finger will always have circulation and cold sensitivity issues now.

I may have overdone it elevating my hand, as yesterday afternoon my entire arm and hand fell asleep and was uncomfortable. I let it stay down for a couple hours and it improved (color got better too). So today I am moderating the elevation.

Pain is OK in mornings, but by evening I really feel it. I took a painkiller to help me sleep last night, since I wanted to get up early this morning and get into work for 1/2 day. Can't say the painkiller helped the pain or helped me sleep, but I sure did feel cozy and happy in bed. I guess they sort of block the part of your mind that cares about the pain.

I don't know when I will be out of the woods medically, or when I will be back outside in the woods doing chores, but my mind is thinking about how much more careful I will be around the splitter. I have proven I was not careful enough, so I'm going to have to add some operational procedure for dummies to make sure this sort of needless injury doesn't happen again. I often find that treating myself like a known dummy is a sure way to avoid repeat problems....

10000X on that last sentence, but add in "or new ones..." at the end
T

 

[tman1020]

I'm glad that you're making progress healing up and thank you for sharing. My two boys and I were just out using the splitter today and I noticed that we were getting a little too comfortable with it. Maybe not getting our hands away or getting in a little too much of a hurry. I mean really that RAM does not seem like it moves very fast. Very easy to get complacent. I'm going to share your story with them right now.

 

[s219]

Saw doc and physical therapist today. Finger is healing as well as can be expected. I continue to feel very fortunate it wasn't much worse.

They figure another 6 or so weeks for the bone to heal, though the tip was broke into a few pieces so how it heals is an unknown. But what was a large visible displacement between pieces on the previous X-ray has now closed up the gap. Apparently tip fractures heal up well. Vascular function appears pretty good and the color has been looking better every day. They said to expect swelling for another 3-4 months, and it will take 6+ months for the nail to grow past all the damage and start to look normal.

The physical therapist has me doing some exercises every hour to start restoring flexibility and function to my hand (all the fingers have stiffened up and become hard to move). It causes a little pain, but I can really see the benefit. She molded a nice little "cap" splint to protect the fingertip during the day. The most amazing thing to me is how much the swelling ebbs and flows throughout the day. The splint will be tight one hour and the next it's loose.

Here's a pic of the fingertip from this evening. It looked a heck of a lot worse just a week ago, and two weeks ago it was a swollen mess that was impossible for me to look at without breaking into a cold sweat.



1-2 times a day I remove the splint and bandaging to wash the finger with soapy water and follow up with a dip in ethyl alcohol. The alcohol helps dry out any moisture that may have gotten under the nail and it will kill any bacteria that could cause infection.

I continue taking ibuprofen, but only pop 200-400mg as needed to handle any pain that crops up. Main discomfort comes from exposure to cold, so my wife is sewing up a big fleece mitt I can stick my hand into when I go outside. Right now I am using an old sock. Previously I was tucking my hand inside my jacket, but that caused a lot of wrist pain towards the end of the day.

I am back at doing what outdoor chores I can do one-handed. Stuff takes longer of course, so I have pretty simple goals each day.

 

[GPintheMitten]

It actually looks pretty good. It will take time. I'm still recovering from cutting my thumb with the table saw last November. The nail is about half back. Still no feeling in the top of the thumb. But at least I can button my shirts and sleaves now.

Good luck on continued recovery. Take it slow.

 

[PhysAssist]

It actually looks pretty good. It will take time. I'm still recovering from cutting my thumb with the table saw last November. The nail is about half back. Still no feeling in the top of the thumb. But at least I can button my shirts and sleeves now.

Good luck on continued recovery. Take it slow.

As best I can recall, when I chopped mostly through my left index fingertip and nail with a cane cutter/machete it was about 6/2009 [please don't ask what I was thinking], but I missed [or at least didn't disrupt] the bone, and I can still use that finger to grab really hot bowls and plates without pain, but I think that most of the light touch sensation was back by about 2013 or so, and it hasn't really improved to speak of since then.