# no feeling in fingertip, permanent? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 7, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106 "2012-02-07T19:36:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/1 "2012-02-07T19:36:43Z")
I mentioned in another thread that I cut the crap out of my finger in a kitchen mishap. In the middle of this wad of stiches is a small patch of skin with no feeling. I mean, I can take a pin and jab it and if I’m not looking at the spot, I don’t even feel the pressure. It kind of feels that there is a pretty big blister uner the area, but my finger is still enough of a mess that it’s hard to tell. Just yesterday the swelling started coming down and my fingertip has been tingling like it has been asleep, I’m also getting some movement back. How likely is it that this loss of feeling is permanent? I’m thinking world’s most esoteric superpower, or is feeling likely to return as it continues to heal? I have a scheduled doctor’s appointment later this week, so nothing I read here will affect my treatment, and I will not use any info presented here as a substitution for professional medical advice. I’m just curious what to expect. Also, I just can’t keep up with fixing all the typos anymore, please ignore any for another week or so. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/2 "2012-02-07T20:33:04Z")
It’s a crapshoot, really. Areas of numbness, tingling, and also nerve pain are very common with this kind of injury. It can last forever or clear up quickly. I cut off a good part of the ball of my left ring finger about 5 years ago - it didn’t hurt, and I’ve had almost no feeling in the scar tissue and the area surrounding it since that time. But I’ve heard that this sort of numbness can resolve itself, sometimes years after the initial injury. I recently cut myself rather badly on my thumb and had to have surgery to repair a tendon - while I had very little pain from the whole ordeal, I didn’t have any numbness or tingling at all at the original site of the injury or from the rather large surgical incision. Beats me. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/3 "2012-02-07T20:39:49Z")
I don’t know for worlds most esotric power, but it would make a great party trick. “Wanna bet that if I meditate real hard, you can stick me with a pin here in my finger and I will transcend the pain?” ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/4 "2012-02-08T07:18:29Z")
It depends on the amount of nerve damage. While woodworking, I drove a drill bit about 1/4" into my index finger. A week later I had lost about 100% feeling in that finger but after several months I regained about 90% of normal sensation. ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/5 "2012-02-08T10:09:13Z")
I had a puncture wound in the palm of my left hand and it killed all the feeling in my pinky finger. I was pretty bummed because I was just starting to mangle a new Telecaster. The feeling eventually came back but it took about 8 years. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/6 "2012-02-08T10:35:20Z")
Yea, nerve damage seems to get better, but do so really slowly. I cut a gash across my palm a year ago and lost most of the feeling along the front of my pinky. Its still slowly improving. (weird aside: for several months after the injury, while my pinky fingertip was totally numb, when ever I touched my palm below the where the wound had been it would feel like I was touching the finger. The effect was even more pronounced with temperature, I could put my finger on an ice-cube and feel nothing, but the whole finger would get cold if I touched the ice to just below the wound.) ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/7 "2012-02-08T22:34:24Z")
As a kid, I mangled a finger, basically making a flap out of the pad/fingerprint area, attached only at the top. I’ve got a lovely U shaped scar on it. As you described, I had no feeling in that area at first. Over the years, I’ve gotten pretty much full feeling back, except for right at the scar. It does mean that if I take up a life of crime, I have to avoid leaving a print from that least that finger. WAY to identifiable. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/8 "2012-02-09T02:17:58Z")
In the course of my job, I once had a kid bite me hard on the lower knuckle of my right thumb. The thumb was numb and tingly for several months, but eventually was totally fine. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/9 "2012-02-09T02:22:14Z")
When I was 14 I cut down to the bone on my “fuck you” finger on my left hand with a pocket knife. I was trying to prove to my dad that this green thing that fell off a tree in front of us wasn’t a walnut like he said it was. About 0.5cm[sup]2[/sup] above the cut was completely numb after it healed. The feeling finally came back about 20 years later. To add insult to injury, he was right and I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/10 "2012-02-09T02:22:22Z")
What every one else said - in my experience you’ll get back at least some feeling but it could take a while. ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/11 "2012-02-09T02:26:44Z")
I had a dog bite me on my right forearm when I was a teenager, maybe ten-fifteen years ago. It was numb for about a year, but now it’s like nothing ever happened there. The scars which were once pretty noticeable are mostly faded. I can only see one of them, and that’s probably because I know where to look and what to look for. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/12 "2012-02-09T16:32:40Z")
I froze my finger to a frozen chicken breast when I was about 16. The feeling in my fingertip has not come back (18 years later). It affects the way I type ( I tend to lean that finger to the side so I can feel the keys) but otherwise no big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/13 "2012-02-10T02:21:49Z")
I sliced a thin flap of skin at the end of my left middle finger, 30 years ago, and it’s still somewhat numb. They cleaned it and stitched it down, and it healed fine except for the residual numbness. The scar is also faintly visible. I can feel pressure if I press firmly, but I think that’s the tissue under where the flap was cut. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/14 "2012-02-10T03:52:43Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > I froze my finger to a frozen chicken breast when I was about 16. Wait, what? How did you manage to do that? To the OP, you still have stitches and you are poking yourself with needles?!?! STOP THAT!!! Leave your poor finger alone to recover from the trauma. I’ll bet you are the sort of person who picks scabs off as well. I had foot surgery back in November that involved the small bones and tendons at the ball and arch of my foot. My big toe is still semi-numb. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/15 "2012-02-10T03:55:46Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > … > I had foot surgery back in November that involved the small bones and tendons at the ball and arch of my foot. My big toe is still semi-numb. Those feetsies are sensitive to that kind of thing. I broke my left foot in October - and toes 3/4 (“middle finger” and “ring finger”) have a definite loss of sensation. Probably permanent :(. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/16 "2012-02-10T03:57:09Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > Wait, what? How did you manage to do that? Hey, if you’re 16 and you’re told something’s a breast, how could you keep your hands off it? ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/17 "2012-02-10T05:20:52Z")
I cut through the very tip of my right index finger about 11 years ago, and for six years, the spot above the cut was numb. Then, one day, I was scrubbing a table while wearing rubber gloves and wondered what the hell that thing poking my finger was. Turned out, I was scrubbing a little too hard with the index finger, and it had finally reconnected the nerve endings in time to inform me. I spent the rest of the day poking my fingertip and grinning. ---
**Author:** ![bluezooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@bluezooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluezooky)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/18 "2012-02-10T07:15:41Z")
It’s often said a nerve can grow one millimetre a year so it pays to be patient, I banged the top joint of my index about seven years back and its more or less just getting back to normal now. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/19 "2012-02-10T14:54:57Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > Wait, what? How did you manage to do that? I was cleaning the sink and lifted up the chicken to wipe under it and didn’t notice the pain until it was pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106/20 "2012-02-12T05:07:45Z")
Another data point: In September of 2009 (so 2.5 years ago), I cut the pad of my thumb badly enough to require five stiches. I experienced a lot of numbness but everything was back to normal in about six months. I’d guess it depends on a lot of factors; I don’t know exactly where, or how deep you cut yourself. My injury was above the first knuckle and less like cutting off my thumb, and more like filleting it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-feeling-in-fingertip-permanent/612106.md?page=2)