I haz a booboo!

I was out doing stuff today, and found a set of shelves that would be perfect for my small business. It was on a wheeled pallet, and I nudged it with my sandal-clad foot to take it to my car, and I got a splinter under my big toenail! :smack: Long story made short: My doctor was able to get me right in (otherwise, I would have gone to the walk-in clinic a few blocks farther down the same road) and removed the splinter. He tried to remove it without numbing it, because doing so is painful, but when that didn’t work, he did a nerve block and was able to get it all out. He said it was a big puppy too! (No, I didn’t want to see it.) I then got a tetanus shot and went on my merry way.

On top of it, the office couldn’t bill it, so I paid the bill myself and should be reimbursed 100%. As for the amount, let’s just say I’ve spent more than that at the veterinarian and didn’t complain.

So, that was my afternoon.

Update: I took two extra-strength Tylenols for the pain, and now my toe doesn’t hurt! :slight_smile: I think this is going to heal pretty quickly.

Hurray for healing, but I scoff at having a doctor remove a splinter. :dubious:
But was the nerve block pretty cool? Lidocaine ring block, like doing a circumcision?

It was huge - several millimeters in diameter - and came out in pieces. I couldn’t have done it myself.

Better living through pharmaceuticals. :slight_smile:

Ok then, props for recognizing your limits. :wink:

OMG, I shudder at the idea of splinters under nails. There was some author, can’t remember who, that said the pain of pulling out nails, or inserting something under them, could break a hypnotic command not to talk. Sorry, no cite for that.

I read a romance novel(okay, so sometimes I want to read something soft) in which the heroine was tortured by having a spike driven under her nails. Of course, before things could go TOO far the hero rescued her, but my skin still creeped.

Glad to hear that drugs kill the pain!:smiley:

Oh, that was difficult to read. <shudder>

Hope it heals up quickly!

It was difficult to realize what I’d done to myself.

Update: I cannot believe how rapidly this is healing. It’s almost painless, and there’s no sign of infection. It was still a rather gnarly experience. :stuck_out_tongue:

:eek: That’s not a splinter, that’s a toothpick!

When I was in 8th grade, the tip of my middle finger of my right hand accidentally got smashed in a dishwasher door… which hurt quite a bit.

After the hurting was over, for several weeks, my nail was all purplish and black, and kind of loose, but it didn’t really hurt to poke at it.

So one time in math class, I was poking at the nail. A burst of gross old blood shot out of my finger and across my forehead.

I casually wiped off the gooey blood the best I could, and resolved not to play with the dead nail again… which resolution did not last long, but apparently only one geyser of blood was contained in my swollen finger.

The nail came progressively loose and I cut off the loose bits wondering how much of the nail would be removable. Turns out, it was all of it.

For a while, I had no nail on the finger. One grew back eventually. But 20-something years later there’s still a dent in the nail at the epicenter of the smash.

Also, one of my friends decided he wanted to lose a nail too, so he screwed around with one of his little toes to try to make the nail fall off.

That’s all the pointless nail-related ramblings I got. But if you want to talk about how it feels to have your back stapled shut under partial anesthesia, you come to me.

Every time I glance at this thread title, I think some Doper has acquired a pygmy chimp as a pet. Every time!

I spoke to the insurance adjuster today, and they will cut me a check today.

:slight_smile:

It’s healing quite well, too, although it would be MUCH more healed if I hadn’t hit it with the vacuum cleaner several days ago. :smack:

You’re getting paid for catching a splinter with your toe? :dubious:

reading “splinter under my big toenail” = completely squigged out Bubbadog

Not paid; just reimbursed for my doctor’s visit. The adjuster asked me if I was going to pursue any further action, and I said I wasn’t.

The claim was considered totally open-and-shut because it was under $1,000.

EXPERIENCING this totally squigged out Nearwildheaven!

Got the check today for my medical bills.

I also got a letter from my car insurance carrier regarding a claim for less than $100 that I made over 2 years ago. :rolleyes: In this case, my neighbor’s then 4-year-old son was waving a stick around (he did that all the time and we joked that he’ll grow up to be his generation’s Gustavo Dudamel) and accidentally busted a car window. Nobody was hurt, and insurance covered the repair. But I can’t believe I’m STILL hearing about it!

Update: My doctor told me that the nail would probably come off, and as of today, it’s finally starting to do so. Details at 10.

:stuck_out_tongue: