I managed to take a rather nasty hunk out of my finger at work tonight. Not bad enough for a trip to the ER, but given that I’m now missing a 1/2 long, by 1/8 wide and deep hunk of meat out of the tip of my finger and I’ve never lost that much at one time, I’m kind of curious as to how long its going to need to heal up.
The bandage on my finger makes it a bit difficult to type (thankfully it’s on my left hand and I’m a rightie so I’ll still be able to enjoy my sex “life”).
May I ask how you have it bandaged up? Those butterfly thingies?
Tell me you reported it as an OJI (On the Job Injury) to a manager at least! If it were to get infected or develop some other kind of complications (“My complication developed a little complication…”) you’ll want to have workman’s compensation covering it.
As for how long it’ll take to heal, it depends (among other things) on the type of wound; it doesn’t sound like a neat, clean cut (which can heal rather quickly if properly cleaned and bandaged so that the edges are pressed back together), so it’d allow it something on the order of weeks. I recently got a cut on my chin–thanks to accidentally being on the periphery of a stupid barfight–and while it probably should have had a suture or two I didn’t want to go to the ER. As a result, it healed kind of slowly (about three weeks) and I had to keep cleaning it out as it got mildly infected. It left a new bumpy scar on my chin. 
Anyway, keep it clean and covered, and try not to stress the cut too much. And report it to your employer!
Stranger
Yup, and I’m keeping it elevated so it doesn’t get soaked in things like oil.
Stranger, nice Brazil ref. It’s been reported, so no worries there (yet).
It depends. It will probably be way better in a few weeks as long as it doesn’t get infected. It may take a few months to heal as much as it is going to and a year or two if there is any nerve damage that needs to return.
I had a cut the exact same size on my finger, but on the side, past the second knuckle. I cut it on March 5, right before my Oscar party. Looking at it now, I would say it is “almost completely healed.” There is just a little bit of scab in the middle of a larger scar area.
After the bandage falls off for the tenth time try some superglue. You will have to reapply it every couple of days but it keeps it from getting infected and stuff that stings from getting in it. It really works best on hangnails (to keep them from snagging). If you keep a bandage on the cut it seems to take longer to heal as it will stay moist.
Actually, I have had similar injuries. But! Y M M V
I sliced off the tip of my index finger. At an angle. From just this side (pointing to it, can’t you see?) of the inside bend of the joint to a little below my fingernail. Entire length of slice was about one inch. The deepest part of the slice was 1/4" or so, and it was the width of my finger. Sound similar?
Okay. Yeah, didn’t hurt when happened, but throbbed for several days after. Went to doctor, got some special salves. One was to be used each time I changed the bandage until it stopped oozing, which was about two days. The other I was to use each time I changed bandage until it ran out. About a week longer.
It oozed for over two days. Was usable, in a sort of dainty way, in about a week. Healed completely (I’m a starfish, I guess) in about a month. No scar.
A different wound, a deep stab, all the way thru to the bone, right on top of a knuckle, took well over two weeks to become slightly useable. Kept it splinted for about a month. Couldn’t use that hand at full strength for over two months.
Don’t suck on it. That’s gross.
Probably not for General Questions. Let’s try MPSIMS.
samclem
Yep! I superglued a slice on my finger - I wash dishes, managed to slice it on a broken glass. No other way to keep it sealed when your work requires you to immerse your hands in dirty water much of the time, especially if the location is such that it naturally tends to pull open. Worked beautifully, no infection. I don’t know how much it affects the rate of healing.
I nearly cut off the tip of my left index finger making a vegetarian entree one Thanksgiving (it wasn’t vegetarian after that, lemme tell you). Cut through the nail, about 1/4 of an inch from the tip, hanging by a bit of gristle, yadda yadda. Didn’t get stitched but I should have.
About 3 weeks later, it hadn’t healed, so I went to the doctor. Had to take antibiotics, but then it got better by Xmas. It was pretty gross in the interim, though. It barely has a scar now, but it’s a little numb and probably always will be.
What I’m saying is, maybe you should go to the doctor and get it checked out. It’ll be on your boss’ bill, so why not?