How many people have cut tendons in their fingers??

Tuff

Tuff

Joined
Jun 15, 1999
Messages
981
Well, I was told I need surgery today to fix a tendon in my pinky finger. I can't really pull it in, so I was told I cut a tendon. Didn't look that deep to me. How many other people have cut up their fingers pretty bad?
I'm wondering if this is something that can heal too, because shelling out $200 or so to fix this lame injury is money I don't want to spend unless necessary. This a problem that can heal itself?
 
Tuff, I read your other post about you bleeding and posting at the same time. Wow. FWIW, I think I would listen to the professionals on your injury. A second opinion would be ok, but I doubt that many of the forum guys are qualified for that. I think I would spend the money. Good luck.

[This message has been edited by Big Tex (edited 01 January 2000).]
 
Tuff-

JUST DO IT!!!

For probably less than the price of the next knife you were going to buy (& probably end up selling or trading), you can have movement in your finger for the rest of your life.

You are only given one set of parts and replacements are not always available.

I like my knives, but I like having my bodily functions better.

Sorry to sound like your mother.

Stay sharp!

Jim

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Jim O'Young
www.speed-techknives.com
Home of the Speed Tech "SYNERGY" (tm)
1999-2000 BLADE Magazine "Most Innovative American Design"

 
When I cut my pinkie finger, I didn't know that there was any tendon damage. I applied first aid, and kept my hand above my head. I kept the wound clean, and it healed OK. I can barely see the scar. The last joint of my finger doesn't work. It's been about 8 years, so it doesn't get better. Get the surgery and pay the bill when it arrives. Most hospitals can arrange a payment plan if you can't pay the bill in full.

If it's only $200, consider yourself lucky. I had to pay $600 for 6 stitches to my thumb once. I was pissed when I got the bill, but the doctor did a good job. Two stitches through the nail and 4 to the side of the thumb. It was kind of cool watching the doctor drilling through my nail with a needle from a syringe! :-)


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K. Williams
kel620@aol.com
Modern Arnis Student


[This message has been edited by K Williams (edited 01 January 2000).]
 
Sorry Tuff, your injury will not heal itself. Take the previous excellent advice and fork over the moolah.

regards,
Phil Reedy, PA-C
 
Tendons don't heal on their own if severed.

Not EVER.

Fix it, dude! Your actual pulling strength in your hands comes from your middle through PINKIE fingers: watch somebody else pick up a heavy bucket, for example...their forefinger and thumb will be loose. Your pinkie is more critical than you think.

Jim
 
Tuff-

Just this past summer my boss, while pushing trash down in a can at his house, cut through a tendon on his middle finger. A cat food can lid was the culprit, apparently.

He had to have surgery, and his hand was immobilized for a couple of months. He said it throbbed like mad during that time as well. Even now, he is still in physical therapy, twice a week after work. The tendon healed ok I guess, but in his case he severed some nerves as well and has lost feeling in two of his fingertips. Not an injury to be taken lightly at all.

Not to scare you, but you need that surgery!

Oh, I just asked my wife who's a nurse- she concurs with the above posts. Nerve damage and infection are possible, not to mention the use of a finger. The tendon will NOT heal itself!

Schedule the surgery ASAP-

clip
 
Looks like I'll have to then...damn

Maybe I can find a plan to work something out then...I hope
 
Payment plan that is...

$600??? That's seems steep for tying 2 "strings" together...
 
About 10 years ago I managed to slice through the tendons,nerves and blood vessels at the base of my thumb.Spent 4 hrs in ER and 3 months with a splint on my hand.It took a year and a half before I regained all the feeling in my thumb.Cost me over $1500 but it was money well spent considering my thumb is as good as new.I was lucky,the knife was razor sharp,I had a top notch surgeon and didn't develop keloids.
Spend the money and get it fixed!!

Ray

2 thumbs are better than 1
 
Tuff,
Get the surgery for sure.
You will never regret making your finger work right.
If you don't do it, you'll always be reminded that it doesn't work like it should.

As for the price, remember that the doctor has knowledge that you are buying as well.
As in any service, you pay more for that knowledge than for the actual cost of the stuff that goes into it. (A scalpel and a few sutures don't really cost much but a med. school education and the spent years gaining it does.)
Besides, would you really trust a discount surgeon?
(Disclaimer: Yes, many physicians charge far more than they should. I personally feel that medical care should be easily attainable by all people. I am not on the side of profit in this case, I am on the side of professionalism...)




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-Compact
:)
 
"$600??? That's seems steep for tying 2 "strings" together."

That's what I said, plus some choice 4 letter words. I was not a happy camper when the bill arrived. But he did do a good job...
 
Hi Tuff,

I say have the surgery, but remember this the next time you are using one of your knives. You could have gotten a Brend polished Mini Socom or a Dalton M6 with that money.
frown.gif


Later,
John

 
Have the surgery Tuff, you will never regret it. Jim's right, you don't realize how important full use of your pinky is.

rk

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As for me and my house...

Joshua 24:15

 
Tuff,
When you injure a tendon in your hand or any of the digits on it, it is an injury to the entire arm and not just that particular pinkie. If you do not get the thing fixed NOW, you will regret it, guaranteed. Maybe not now, but later on it will change your life in unpleasant ways.

I've had hand tendon injuries on several occasions, and each time, the Dr.'s stressed this same point repeatedly.

And if you are only paying a couple of hundred bucks then you, my friend, are getting off REAL easy. Set up a payment plan with the hospital and get the work done post haste.
This is a very serious injury and should not be taken lightly. You need that pinkie more than you think and there is only one per hand per customer.
I'm hoping that it turns out 100% for you Tuff. Happy New Year!
smile.gif


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So, what IS the speed of dark?
 
For around $200 you're getting a bargain! Be sure your surgeon knows what he's doing. Ask about board certification. Honest, this sounds really cheap.

You DO NOT want to get an infection in this tendon repair!

As others have stated, it will not heal on its own. The ends of the severed tendon retract and do not touch. You can not position your finger in such a way that they will, either.


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Frank Norman
Attitude - The difference between an adventure and an ordeal.
 
I just remembered: on the HI forum there was a discussion about a guy with no functional pinkie having a hard time using a Khukuri for heavy chopping. It just "didn't fit his hand right". Bill Martino may know where that thread is or at least, he can confirm it's existence.

Fix the pinkie
smile.gif
.

Jim
 
Tuff,

Get the surgery. It is only $200 and that is cheap for that type of surgery. This is really important. And just think how nice it would be to play with your knives and your pinkie can particapate too. Later

Liong

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Hello,

well i was trying to think of somthing to say helpful but im at a loss, i mean if a Grown person doesnt realize when they need medical attention then what can i contribute <shrug>?

Allen
 
Mine wasn't "severed" per se, but during a motorcycle trip two Summers ago from FL to UT, I "detached" one end of a tendon in my left middle finger's uppermost joint (closest to nail). This caused the top joint to drop inwardly toward the palm. Couldn't straighten it.

I stopped at a regional hospital in Breckenridge, TX where they x-rayed and confirmed my suspicion stating that it would require surgery to reattach the one end to the bone it had been displaced from.

As I was on a three week motorcycle trip, and riding solo for the first week, I declined to have them splint it, and told them I'd look into it when I returned to FL in three weeks.

My orthopedic surgeon back home stated that it would most likely require surgery, but for the heck of it splinted it for a few weeks to see what would happen.

Well, as he later said, it "shouldn't" have worked, but it did. The tendon reattached itself, and though it took a little while to recover a full range of motion and use, it is now normal.

This may not work with a "severed" tendon, and the long and short of it is that I would follow the doctor's advice, especially at the low cost of the remedy offered.

Blues

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Live Free or Die

Some Knife Pix
 
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