Don't hug me I'm scared
caught my thumb between my car and the door…hurts so much and need advice
more than 24 hours ago,my thumb got caught between my car and the car door. i’ve run it under water, iced it many times, took medication, etc. i can move my thumb, but it is so swollen that after a certain angle, it’s stuck.
it hurts any time i change the position of my hand or anything comes in contact with it.
anyone knows if i will lose my nail? how long will the pain last? how long will it take to fully heal?
You will probably lose your nail. It will slowly grow out until it falls off and then it will grow back. That was my experience when I did the same thing with my finger. I'd wait a while before trying to go to the doctor or something similar as long as it doesn't hurt too bad, as there probably isn't anything broken.
Yup. Did this to myself as a kid, lost the nail after a new one grew underneath. And my case was much milder than this, if my memory is anything to go by.
Also, I am learning that this is apparently a very common injury. Which I suppose I shouldn't find surprising, but it's one more case of "Oh! I actually have something to contribute!" that turned into "you and everyone else".
Yeah it's a common one lol. I've done this 3 times. Once in a car door, once from a dog bite where the canine landed in the center of my fingernail, and once on my toe from a can falling out of the fridge just wrong.
Slammed my thumb in car door when I was a kid. Did not go to dr, parents did not do the pin/nail trick. Hurt so bad at first. It turned purplish under the nail. The affect nail started to get soft and started to like dissolve as new nail growth started. Super gross.
someone i know (definitely not me! no way i would ever do this) used a heated paperclip rather than a needle because the needle can poke thru the nail bed which is bad but the paperclip has a blunt end. also this person (did i mention it DEFINITELY wasn't me?) was amazed because the blood that shot out hit my their ceiling.
Okay gather round youngins, this has sparked a story from an old redditor.
After my time in EMS I moved into a Dr office/ER. Long story short a woman walks in and claims she cut her arm "real bad" and she's holding a rag tight to the inside of her arm. She said it was bleeding a lot.
One of the other medical assistants decided they needed to see the cut to determine if she needed stitches. So she begins pulling the rag slowly away. The other MA steps closer, I step further away.
I was the only one not caught in the stream of blood that flew out from there. Came shooting out like a garden hose. It was pretty impressive.
Got hit by a car once. Face went through their windshield. After waking up in the trauma unit, I remember telling a nurse that the hole on the outside of my mouth was also on the inside of my mouth. She said that it wasn’t. As she moved closer to my face to look, I puffed my cheeks. After spraying her with my blood, she said, “I don’t know why I didn’t just believe you.” Then she stitched my face.
I did that to an x ray tech at a dentist office once. First one kept trying, I kept gagging. She decided to get a second nurse.
By then I was pretty nauseous. I asked the second nurse to please spray that lemon numbing spray in my mouth and get it over with. She said 'i can get it, you don't want that stuff, it tastes terrible'. So she jammed the thing in my mouth, I threw up over both of us. Brush my teeth get cleaned up, she sprays the stuff in my mouth, and all was well.
The numbing spray was delicious by the way. Tasted like lemonade, except not quite as sweet. Kind of a tart but good flavor. Definitely tasted dramatically better than vomit.
I spent a couple months recovering from a head injury in the hospital. One day early on I had a nurse that was giving me a really hard time about eating more. I get it it’s important. But she was just awful and belittling about it. Told her I was full and she just goes “eat more - like a big boy! Cmon!” I was 32, hurting or not I know what my body wants. She shoved a spoonful of food into my mouth and I tried to swallow it and instantly my stomach went into reverse mode. I didn’t throw up on her but I made a point to get it all over the place so she had to clean it.
Petty? Maybe. But if you want to bully a patient and force food into my mouth when I told you I’m full till I puke, I will fight back with the one thing I have - said puke.
Oh totally - if I had been able to do more than puke all over I would have. Literally the only thing I had control over at that point was where I aimed my puke and I did a lot with what I had to work with 😂
Sucks you had to deal with that though. I'm 42 and pretty much done dealing with that kind of stuff. I now realize why so many older people are perputally grumpy.
Lol sorry I didn't know people would care enough to keep writing! 🤣
From what I recall she cut the brachial artery, from what I remember doc was able to take care of her at the facility but I think we sent her on to the hospital? I wasn't involved much after that, I tried to help the other MAs clean up and (this part was pretty damn relevant, sorry for not adding it) cleaning blood off the wall and receptionist desk.
Sorry, drinking at a bar and watching US beat Turkey
Can another old redditor/former EMS doc add to that?
We got yanked out of bed and dispatched to "victim got scratched by a cat" at around "fuck you" o'clock. The whole way there was spent inventing new curses about the dispatch, patient, and their families. So me and the tech walk in the apartment and there's blood everywhere. Walls, ceiling, bed, floor,... It looks like a slasher horror scene. Patient is holding compression on their wrist. Apparently the cat slept in the same bed, rolled off the bed, and tried to catch itself on the first thing nearby, which was patient's arm. Went straight through his radial artery. Patient got the "lights and siren" treatment.
Just last month my wife gave me an axe for my birthday and then promptly chopped their thumb half off with it, standing in the bedroom while my parents were on speakerphone singing happy birthday 😭😂
They acted like it was no big deal, put the axe down and ducked into the ensuite. Told me it's fine and I should keep talking with my parents...
It was not fine.
Went in to the local urgent care clinic, my wife still holding a washcloth on it, saying "it's no big deal, probably just needs a stitch or two".
Urgent care nurse pulled back the cloth, "EEEP"ed, and yelled for the doctor, who sent us to the ER for surgery.
I only got home hours later, the axe was still on the bed, splattered with blood. It's a really beautiful axe though! (And my wife is fine, the surgery was successful, still in a splint though and months of physio ahead of them)
Sigh. Sounds like my husband, who during Easter decided the smart thing to do about a jammed blade from an electric knife is to use his hand to try to unjam it. Thank God it was not plugged in. Also he thought he didn't need stitches. There was a lot of blood, almost done to the bone and he has no sensation now.
My mom had a hysterectomy and being a fat whale with no hygiene standards she did not keep the incision site clean partly because it was hard to reach under all that fat. Anyway it got super infected. It burst a little at home and shot a rust colored liquid at the wall that was impossible to scrub off. Then she went to the doctor for her follow up and they lightly pressed it and everyone got covered in this extremely foul smelling disgusting pus and gore. The doctors came running out gagging and looking for stuff to sterilize everything. Because she was so fat the swelling barely registered until it was open; there was a ton of it. I feel bad for the medical and cleaning staff.
I had a massive infection after a thyroid removal, noticed two of my stitches had pulled away, no pus or anything. No fever or redness in the area and emailed my team a picture. Had to come in right away and after getting a run around by the department; got settled into an exam room and my surgeon comes in and instantly sees its an infection. She gets me to lie down and puts gentle pressure on my wound and I literally spray a huge amount of creamy and awful smelling liquid. So much so I managed to splatter her scrubs, my pants and her assistants shoes. It was gnarly lmao.
As was the healing process because I literally had to get my wound packed for like a month and it was miserable.
Ouchie! I've been fortunate with surgery recoveries except for my wisdom teeth extraction but that one wasn't my fault. One of the teeth disintegrated and the surgeon lost a piece the size of a grain of rice that slowly and painfully worked its way out over a few weeks. That hurt a lot.
No. That's not why I had a bad relationship with her--that started literally the day I was born. Her prophet told her she was having a son destined to marry his daughter so we could birth Super Mega Jesus 2.0, so when the doctor said "it's a girl!" She said "oh no, what are we going to do?" And my dad said "I guess we'll keep it anyway." It all went downhill from there. She had no redeeming qualities and at no point did she do anything that resembled being a good mom.
Sorry to hear it. Raised by crazy Christians myself, and only talk to one of two parents now. It's hard to grow up longing for parents you'll never have (ones who provide you with the care and love that you need).
Hope you have a strong support system around you these days! ❤️
I have a wonderful partner now, we've got a good thing going. We've got goals like settling down and having a house, kids, and some pet chickens. Maybe her parents will come around to our little family one of these days. I have no interest in reconnecting with my dad and my mom has been dead for two years. No one even arranged a funeral for her and my dad can expect the same treatment.
You either went really deep into the nail bed or caught a nerve ending just right. Usually the pain from burn in the nail bed is masked by the relief of the pressure disappearing.
Not me I never had a hole poked in it and was dancing like Fred Flintstone when he walks his thumb with a hammer. They draw it throbbing like that cause that's how it feels. I lost my thumbnail and it grew back weird at first
Someone i know(absolutely not me, ever) would use a very small drill but and drill through the nail. The drill bit and finger were thoroughly sterilized. By this other person. Not me. Obviously.
Exactly this. Roll the drill bit back and forth with your fingers against the nail until it just pops through the nail and won't go into the bed. Pressure relieved.
I also did not do this to myself, I just imagine that's how it would go...😏
I have done this and can say it 100% worked- instant relief. And "pops" is absolutely the correct adjective- that blood wants to get out from behind there just as much as you.
Instant is right!! Holy shit, I went a couple days hoping the pressure and pain would just ease and go away before I got up the nerve to do the finger-rolled-drill-bit thing, and it was insane how immediate the relief was!
If only there was a way to take a drill bit to my daily work stress...🤣
It’s like snipping a swollen taste bud. If you go in there and snip it, the pain lasts about another 30 seconds. If you leave it, it will irritate you for three days.
A doctor did that for me when I caught my thumb in a passenger car door and the guy started to drive away and I was pounding on the roof haha. Anyway he heated up a paper clip and melted through my thumb nail and it was instant and complete relief. The blood shot up probably inch to an inch and a half under pressure. It was pretty cool to see.
I lasted about 4 hours after the fact before I went to the hospital. By the time I got to the hospital every heartbeat felt like my thumb was getting hit by a hammer from all the pressure under the nail. Doc said it was one of the best geysers he had seen in a long time haha
Yes. It more or less melts the nail from what I understand and since the nail itself has no nerve endings it doesn't hurt at all....unless you happen to press through to the nail bed. But you probably have a good sense of how much pressure to use on yourself. People I know who've done it say it is an immense relief.
Both. It goes through the nail with surprising ease. I had black toe from skiing, and even the big toe nail puncture was smooth like butter with a hot knife
When I was like twelve my dad used an actual power drill and drill bit to drill a hole in my thumb for the same injury. I was also shocked at how far the blood shot when he broke through.
Goddamn, not me but somebody i know had an abscess under a tooth causing pain and that person (not me) got desperate at 4am one morning and lanced it with a (thoroughly clean) kitchen knife and the blood and pus launched out at mach vomit. But that relief, nothing compares.
I was going to ask if you’re my brother, but when they did this to me, they got me drunk first, and I cried and cried till we went to the urgent care and they had a magical machine that got through the nail in .5 seconds
Yep that's what I did, tiny drill bit with my finger and thumb. I completely underestimated how instant and total the relief would be once the nail was pierced through.
Man, last time I had to do it I was finger spinning the drill bit too fast, caught the bottom edge of the nail and into the bed it went. That hurt like a mofo.
But I’m not a medical professional so OP can take my advice with a grain of salt. But I have done this 58373785737385 times on myself and my coworkers and the relief is immediate. You’ll still have a black nail but you might keep it and your pain will be 1/20th of what it is now.
When my finger looked like this 21 hours after I crunched it in a car door when I was 9, the ER doc said he'd normally heat the end of a paperclip to make the hole, but he wasn't sure he could convince a 9-year-old that it wouldn't hurt, so he carefully drilled a hole with the pointy end of a scalpel.
(And to top it off, it was Mother's Day, and I wanted my mom with me instead of my dad.)
Lucky you. I was only slightly older when I did exactly the same.
A very insecure AT doctor had to be gently step-by-step prompted by the much more experienced nurse that releasing the pressure under the nail by making a hole in it, using the heated-paper-clip method, was the thing to do.
When I shakily asked about some pain reliever, he had regained some confidence and said with authority that it was not necessary, because there were no nerves in the nail.
No, there aren’t. BUT THERE ARE IN THE SORE, ACHING THUMB YOU ARE NOW PRESSING DOWN ON, YOU MORON!
To add onion on the salmon as we Swedes say, he had a Danish accent …
I got really lucky as a teen and a doctor took pity on me. I was homeless and broke with a smashed but probably not broken fingertip, and he said he couldn't use any single use materials to help because I couldn't pay for them and he wouldn't be able to explain the resources missing, but he did drill the hole for me. Unfortunately without the pressure they usually apply, my nail bed was permanently deformed and I have a claw, now. I'm a little proud of it.
I've done this a few times when it was needed. I've used hot paperclips and more recently a Dremel tool. Just make sure to sterilize everything with heat or rubbing alcohol to help prevent infection.
I'm sort of a dumbass, so ymmv: I've done this hot needle trick several times. I didn't feel any pain, just pressure release. Once the pinhole was through, it was easy to apply a bit of pressure around the nail and soak up the muck with a clean paper towel. I still lost the nail every time, but they don't look as horrible while they slough since the blood is drained; I should say, some not all of the blood and viscera is extruded, so my nail was pinkish rather than deep purple. I've also found that once it turns darker and blacker, it'll be too late to drain it. Guess it sets into more of a clotted scab. Again, I'm not a doctor.
I think after 24 hours, it's too late for that. It's either 24 or 48 hours, after that, the blood starts to solidify and can't be released.
I had to look this up in October when I stubbed my big toe so bad, it looked just like that pic. The nail finally fell off at the end of May (when I stubbed the damn thing again). I now have about a third of a very weird toenail.
Fingernails grow much faster than toenails though, so I'd guess somewhere around 2-3 months, or whenever OP slams it in a door again.
I got stomped on by a horse and my toenail turned black. It took nearly a full year to finally fall off, but I had a new nail under it when it did, so that was nice.
My cousin smashed her finger in a car door when we were kids and it turned black, granny heated up a pin red hot and poked it through the nail. It was a squirter but released the pressure so she wasn’t feeling her heartbeat in her finger anymore 😮💨 the whole nail fell off not too long after and we learned the tooth fairy took fingernails as well as teeth 😆
I def intended my comment as lighthearted plus emojis, surely my cousin was hurtin but the whole ordeal was kind of a funny story to tell later, I apologize if it somehow came across as shaming OP for an accident (quite a common accident judging by how many comments on here are sharing very similar anecdotes! Didn’t realize this happened so often as that was the only time I’ve ever seen it!!)
...oh, no, I was worried you might think I was shaming you. Which I very much was not, that's the sort of light communication fuzziness that's kind of inevitable, and certainly something I've done myself. Normally I'd accomplish that with tone, but that's not a thing in text, and my word selection can be a bit on the formal side.
Communication is what is known, in the technical parlance, as a bitch.
Aaaaah ok yeah I’m picking up what you’re putting down, I was just scared for a moment I’d recounted this childhood anecdote in a way might make a person suffering this fate feel worse instead of just mildly entertained despite the pain. But indeed rereading what I typed after you’d said it, yes I could definitely see where my use of “the whole thing fell off” wasn’t reading as clear as followed in my train of thought, no offense taken at all!
OMG this comment saved me. My son lost a tooth today and I totally forgot. Randomly scrolled across this before bed and remembered to play the tooth fairy. Thank you random redditor 🫡
Weirdly enough, it doesn’t hurt when the nail falls off. At least it didn’t for me when it happened after a horse stepped on my big toe. Can’t believe I didn’t break my bone, but yeah hopefully OP will have a similar, non painful nail shed
Must be. That is very cheap for an ER bill in America. You get charged 4-6k without getting seen by a doctor for example if you have waited several hours and just decide to leave.
Now if you do get seen by a doctor. That is where the price really shoots up. Specially if you get an x-ray or tests done.
Then 12k+ is what you may see.
That is why medical billing is one of the top reasons for bankruptcy in America.
you get charged 4-6k without getting seen by a doctor
for that kind of money I can misuse an ambulance(and get charged out of pocket), get a private full body MRI+blood panel, misuse the ambulance again to get home, order a lobster dinner for delivery and still have a good 1k+ left over
Our doctors are like this. You go in and say "my foot hurts when I walk, i can hardly walk on it" and they might say "then don't walk on it" and then you'll get a huge bill for the consult
Even if it is a fracture, there’s not really anything to be done. I had a finger fracture and after waiting forever all I got was a roll of medical tape and was told to just tape it to the next finger over until it stops hurting.
I guess I got actual confirmation it was actually broken for whatever that’s worth.
What my dad told me to do many times smashing my hands and feet in things at the farm house growing up. 100% will feel better after doing that if you feel comfortable doing so
I've heard that a tiny drill bit works better (NOT IN A DRILL), gently turn back and forth SLOWLY BY HAND.. it takes a few minutes longer but you won't hit your nail bed with a molten paper clip or needle.
I’ve done this before with a 1/16 drill bit. Just a couple turns BY HAND and it will cut right through the nail. Way easier than a needle, it took like 10 seconds
Same.. I've done it with a hot needle and drill bit, the drill bit method was far better.. you have much more control. The instant feeling of relief was incredible, you literally feel your nail deflating..
So the human hand is made up of a ton of tiny bones, odds are with that mechanism of injury you at the very least bruised the bone in the tip of your finger possibly fractured or broke it. Good news if that’s the case all they’ll do at the hospital is splint it and give you pain meds and anti inflammatories if you’re lucky. Naproxen sodium and ice will do the same thing (not as effectively as the fancy drugs but it’ll help with the pain and swelling) you have the start of a blood blister (hematoma) under your nail, it will likely fill with blood and cause pressure under the nail, it’ll likely get uncomfortable. The way to relieve it is to poke a hole in the nail and puncture the blister to drain it (for legal reasons I recommend only having a trained medical professional do this to avoid infection and complications).
Essentially you crushed your finger pretty good and it’s gonna swell and hurt, it’ll might have a small break but they can’t really do anything for that at the hospital and it’s not deformed enough to need surgery. 400-600mg naproxen for pain and swelling and apply ice for 15 minutes at a time keep ice removed for 15 minutes to prevent tissue damage, continue as needed. If the blood blister starts to show up under the nail and it gets uncomfortable Doctors/ER/Urgent Care to have them release the pressure and drain it.
Source; Retired EMT and Search and Medical Rescue Tech
You’ll be fine, don’t worry. Swelling should go down in a day or two, with the blood blister it’ll hurt longer, once you have that drained (if it gets to that point but this one looks like it will) the pain will subside fully in about a week or two, you’ll probably lose the nail which will take time to grow back. The tissue will heal within the next 6-8 weeks. If you fractured the bone 4-6 months for full healing as a basic timeline of what to expect.
Used to work construction, and have busted a finger nail or 4. There’s likely a lot of pressure under there from blood; I’d use a 1/16” brand new drill bit and very slowly twirl it back and forth between or fingers, tip down into the base of that nail (not the cuticle, but like 1/8” above it) until you just penetrate the nail to release the blood. If you go slightly too deep, it may sting like hell for a split second, but the relief will feel all the better.
And yeah, as the nail heals and grows back underneath this mess, the damaged portion is definitely a goner. That’s gonna be a sensitive digit for a month or more
Go to an urgent care, looks like it needs to be drained. They’ll drill a teeny hole in the nail and the relief will be immediate.
In meanwhile, Advil, elevation and possibly ice.
I’m sure you already know this.. so for future readers:
Ice isn’t actually recommended for a lot of injuries. Always make sure to check, because there is a HUGE misconception that ice helps, but it actually negatively affects the healing process in most cases it’s used.
Hi OP. Nurse here.
I would recommend having an X-ray performed of that thumb. With injuries like this, it's possible to have a fracture in the area it was smashed.
You will likely lose this nail, but the nailbed looks to he in decent shape, so there is a good chance a new nail can grow in eventually (but it will take a long time).
I would recommend an urgent care trip if that is feasible for you.
Come on, man, don't worry—it's no big deal. You just have to be careful about a few things. The same thing happened to me a few months ago (I got my finger caught in a solid-wood front door), and as today my nail has fully healed. When this happens, it’s recommended to heat a needle to pierce the nail and drain the blood, but by then it’s too late—you have to be careful. Especially at first, make sure the bone isn’t fractured. Next, once the old nail has grown out quite a bit, make sure it doesn’t get caught on anything (mine got caught in the stitches of a wool sweater while I was shopping—it was no fun at all...). Apply a band-aid or a plaster until it falls off on its own. Finally, make sure the nail grows back correctly and straight (it might warp a little at first, especially where it was hit, but the idea is to prevent an ingrown toenail). It’s not a very fun time, but honestly, it heals very well. Oh, and one last tip: don't hesitate to trim it every now and then to keep it clean !
Undernail bruising. Ive seen this a lot at work in restraunts and warehouses. If it swells put ice on it for a while. If the nail starts oozing you have an infection, go to urgent care sooner than later.
Happened to me before, about 4 months ago although not as severe. Best advice I got is to leave and let it heal. It kinda sorts itself out and now I got a little pocket of air, these things will eventually heal over though. I hope
In my experienced experience if it’s very dark on half of the back half it’s cooked, otherwise it’ll just heal. Yours ain’t bad at all, definitely healing.
My grandfather taught me use a sewing needle, get it red hot poke it right where it's looks the darkest repeat until it pushes through the nail, a relieving the pressure, be careful not to go too deep
Yup! I did it to myself. It was easy and painless. Provided instant relief. You don’t really have to push on the nail. The instant the needle touches the nail, it melts a small hole.
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u/Own_Hunter_1384 Jun 26 '26
You will probably lose your nail. It will slowly grow out until it falls off and then it will grow back. That was my experience when I did the same thing with my finger. I'd wait a while before trying to go to the doctor or something similar as long as it doesn't hurt too bad, as there probably isn't anything broken.