I chopped my finger off last Friday.

[DigiTan]

Jeez! I'm sorry to hear about that. Hopefully the recovery goes extremely well.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Edit:
Nigel,
Which hand was it?

It was my right hand (and I'm VERY right handed), but isn't that usually the case?.

If you've lost feeling in your fingertips, do you often burn them?

The feeling isn't 'lost', it's just reduced from what it was - I'm totally amazed how well the tips grew back - and pleased with how much feeling I do have in them. I suspect the lack of feeling is mainly due to the scar tissue, the rest of the tips are probably normal?.

When it happened I really thought I'd knackered my hand, but in the end it recovered pretty well.

Incidently, a week after doing it I played in a pool match with my local team, and I won my game as well!
My hand was still bandaged, and looked like a bunch of bananas, but I managed to hold the butt of the cue between my thumb and palm (give it a try, play pool without bending your right hand fingers at all). Only drawback was power, I couldn't hit the ball hard - if I did it was absolute agony, as the shock vibrated through my fingers - so I just 'stoked' the balls in.

Back to the OP - if you go to a 'hand clinic' (which I did at my local hospital), you will soon start to think you're really lucky (I did) - it's unreal the injuries you meet there.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

As Nigel said, it'll take a while but should grow back or at least scar over. I probably won't get any feeling back in the tip but that's not too bad.

Before the end of June it will probably all be grown back, and you'll be trying to toughen the skin up - it feels like it will never get tough again, but trust me, it does, but it takes quite a while.

It sounds like you hit the same part as me, the actual finger print part of the finger - mine nicked the nails slightly as well, but didn't go as deep as the bone, you could see it just under the remaining flesh, but it wasn't exposed.

Hopefully you'll be amazed how much feeling you recover, my scars are only between 2mm and 5mm wide - and it seems to be only the scar tissue where you lose the feeling.

BTW, my little finger escaped injury, so I was still able to 'pick my nose'

 

[dknguyen]

BTW, my little finger escaped injury, so I was still able to 'pick my nose'

Score!

Sorry to hear about your accident. I only know a fraction of how much it hurts when I shaved off the tip of my thumb when cutting a cardboard box at work with the knife- nothing like a paper cut at all. Nope nope.

 

[HiTech]

You will start to see more machinery using electronics to keep the operator safe. SawStop makes a table saw that instantly drops the blade below the table surface when it detects a finger. They demo it with a hot dog and the frank barely has a scratch on it. The module gets replaced after it's been triggered, since it's a 1-time use module.

 

[theinfamousbob]

Hope you're doing better, Pommie. I thought it was bad enough the time I nicked my thumb with a bagel knife; cut through the side of the cuticle to the nail before I noticed. I was a bit tired that morning.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

This hasn't worked very well, the scars aren't really visible on the scan, but this is two of my damaged fingers, the red 'circles' show the area that was removed by the plane! - this is how fingertips can grow back when they were entirely missing - the doctors said i'd just removed the 'pulp'

 

[gramo]

Its amazing that even the finger prints make their way back. I wonder if they are the same as they were before

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Its amazing that even the finger prints make their way back. I wonder if they are the same as they were before

It amazed me as well!.

Unfortunately I didn't make a copy of my fingerprints before I removed them but it's certainly said that they grow back identically, otherwise it wouldn't make them much use for the police.

Hopefully the picture will give Pommie some idea of how well it should grow back.

 

[jpanhalt]

In old Grade B American ganster movies, the crooks always sanded off their fingerprints. I don't believe it works, at least not in the long term.

Nigel, From what I understand about both of our countries, your prints are probably on file somewhere. I know mine are, and I have never been arrested (passport, military, ?).

John

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

In old Grade B American ganster movies, the crooks always sanded off their fingerprints. I don't believe it works, at least not in the long term.

I believe it can work short term, basically you can damage your prints enough so they can't use them until you've fully healed.

Nigel, From what I understand about both of our countries, your prints are probably on file somewhere. I know mine are, and I have never been arrested (passport, military, ?).

Perhaps your country but not in the UK, I've never been required to give a fingerprint for anything, possibly the military do it?, I don't know, I've never been in the military (and never had a passport either - but I don't think it's required for a passport?).

 

[Hero999]

I've just applied for a passport and they didn't ask me to give my fingerprints.

Another question is, if someone like your employer asked you for your finger prints, would you give them?

 

[jpanhalt]

Another question is, if someone like your employer asked you for your finger prints, would you give them?

That would vary with the jurisdiction and job. In the US and for some jobs, it is required. In others, you need not comply with the request, or even making the request is not allowed. My recommendation is to go on the Internet and check your privacy laws.

John

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I've just applied for a passport and they didn't ask me to give my fingerprints.

Another question is, if someone like your employer asked you for your finger prints, would you give them?

I think it really depends on who your employer is?, I doubt most employers would have any legal right to make any such request?.

 

[OY2L]

Sorry to hear about your finger Mike, Oh ****! it must be very painful. I wish you a soon recovery.


Leif.

 

[AllVol]

Everything is good, it only hurts now if I catch it on something.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune. I bought a table saw a few years back, but have only used it a few times, mostly because of the fear factor.

Speedy recovery!

 

[dknguyen]

Its amazing that even the finger prints make their way back. I wonder if they are the same as they were before

THen you will be amazed to hear that starfish can grow back whole arms! THe body's an amazing thing.

 

[rjvh]

Another question is, if someone like your employer asked you for your finger prints, would you give them?

yeah the middle finger print

as far as i know their only right is to ask for an official identification document and thats where it stops

Robert-Jan

 

[3v0]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune. I bought a table saw a few years back, but have only used it a few times, mostly because of the fear factor.

Speedy recovery!

Kickback is a common source of injury with tablesaws. When I first got mine I was cutting a small dado (about 1/4 by 1/2) off the corner of a 2x4. When I made the second cut, the waste stock was left between the spinning blade and the fence.

It was not moving. I reached to turn off the switch and the blade launched the little stick at me like an arrow. It ripped the skin off the middle joint of the finger next to my thumb. The ER trip sewed it up but it took 3 or 4 months or therapy get full movement back. The nerves are not quite right but it works.

The lesson here is to put the waste side of the stock on the outside of the blade. Not between the fence and the blade. Or to push the waste clear of the blade with a push stick.

I moved the power switch to the same side I work from so I do not have to cross behind the blade to switch off the saw. One of the bump off type setups is even better.

 

[3v0]

I've just applied for a passport and they didn't ask me to give my fingerprints.

Another question is, if someone like your employer asked you for your finger prints, would you give them?

It depends on what the job is.

When I started (volunteer) teaching I was asked/told to have the sheriff take my finger prints as part of a background check. I had no problems with that because I understand the need to keep perverts out of the schools.