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Health TMI

Ouchy

Those Swiss Army knife people certainly know how to make knives. Very sharp knives.

While using one of their kitchen knives earlier in the week, I carelessly took a small chunk out of my thumb.

Be warned: slightly gory picture ahead.

Cut thumb

What is amazing is how a cut in my thumb, a relatively small part of the body, has caused me so much trouble while it heals.

I suppose opposable thumbs are one of the cornerstones of human development, but it still surprised me how much it’s used for a huge number of everyday activities. Some of the most trouble prone have included :

Tying shoelaces – at least once I’ve got it caught… blood!

Undoing and doing up buttons

Shoe laces

Texting, obviously. (Touch screens don’t detect thumbs inside bandaids)

Pulling my wallet out of my back pocket

Picking almost anything up, for that matter

I even managed to reopen the cut while trying to get a plastic bag off a dispenser in the supermarket.

And opening my work bag, which of course involves squeezing the catches… blood! On the doona!

So while I’m trying to let it heal by not wrapping it in a bandaid, I keep having to put them back on it every time it re-opens.

It leaves me in awe of people who have actual, real, permanent disabilities to live with.

By Daniel Bowen

Transport blogger / campaigner and spokesperson for the Public Transport Users Association / professional geek.
Bunurong land, Melbourne, Australia.
Opinions on this blog are all mine.

4 replies on “Ouchy”

And Bandaids don’t wrap around the end of thumbs very easily. Yes, OUCH, in deed. Hope it heals really quickly

Two bandaids. Give it a few days to knit. Have you noticed how long it takes to heal now that you’re old?

Spray bandage….

If you can get the medical version (Opsite – white can with orange writing) it is better than the supermarket ones – but anything is better than a bandaid on the fingers (and a variety of other locations.

Beware – they sting like a m$^%&f*$%#r but they are worth their weight (and considerably more) in gold!

Kids don’t like them because of the stinging – but for bad areas like finger tips or toes where bandaids just don’t stick, they work a treat and are more hygienic in my opinion – nothing to get dirt and crap caught under/in.

And yes I agree with Josh – healing time post 40 (or so….) is RIDICULOUS!

Another option – most pharmacies sell surgical tape. It’s like a mix of thin cloth, masking tape and non-toxic superglue. Works almost as well as stitches, and thin enough that a touchscreen should still work.

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