# Oh Labor Day....you make us do stupid things.....(gross)



## dakremer (Dec 8, 2009)

S0, not woodworking related, but a good lesson though non the less. No matter how many times you do something, you only need to do it stupidly once (in & out of the workshop). We were at the cabin out on the lake having a nice family fun day on Sunday. My brother needed his beer open. So, like i've dont a million times before, I put the beer bottle on a straight edge and hit down on the cap to pop it off. Unfortunately this time, the bottle shattered and went directly into my palm. Bled like a son of a gun. About an inch long and over a 1/4" deep in the deepest part…. stitches worthy? well maybe, but the cut was so clean I figured it would heal pretty readily. Of course didn't have a first aid kit. So bandaged it up with paper towels and scotch tape, and went on my day. The beer thinning the blood probably didnt help either. So to relate this to woodworking. I've opened a beer bottle like this 100's of times and have never had any problems. It only takes one time though. I think often our subconscious takes over auto-pilot in the woodshop. We've done the cuts on our saws so many times, its almost habit. Many of us have been "getting away" with doing some less than safe things with out any real consequences. It only takes that one time though!! Luckily this accident was minimal, and didnt involve a revolving, sharp toothed blade. It will probably put a damper on my next week. Being in Chiropractic school, I kind of need my palms! haha! Looks like I'll be "sitting out" for a couple days - should be fun explaining that to my professors! be safe out there LJs!!!


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## lysdexic (Mar 21, 2011)

Almost a perfect carpal tunnel release there brother. Glad your are OK. Just FYI, from the location of that laceration you are about 5 mm away from the median nerve and about 3-4 mm from the ulnar nerve. Depending on depth.

Too late for stitches now but it should heal just fine. Keep it covered though until it scabs over. Bonus, your scar will slowly disappear into you palmar crease.


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## dakremer (Dec 8, 2009)

Lysdexic,
Being in chiropractic school, I know ALL to well how close I was to the median/ulnar nerves! That was actually the first thought that came to my mind, but then realized there were no signs of nerve damage, so wasn't worried. Thank god thats the more meaty part of the hand, so I had a little protection! the Ulnar and Median nerves are embedded within the tendons of the flexor muscles, so that also adds a little protection. I was pretty lucky I didnt cut that transverse ligament! Like you said, I guess a little relief from the carpal tunnel would have been nice though!! haha. Funny story - you sound like a smart guy, so i'm sure you meant my Thenar Crease (not the Palmer crease) - but I do have bilateral simian (palmar) creases…..maybe i should be better supervised when doing things like this!!! I had it wrapped up the rest of the day Sunday, and most of the day today (monday). Tonight I'll let it air out while sleeping, and probably wrap it up again tomorrow. it still amazes me the stupid things we (I) do


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## lysdexic (Mar 21, 2011)

I stand corrected. That is in fact the thenar crease and not the palmar crease. Labor day does make us do stupid things. However, the median nerve lies superficial to the flexors so those wouldn't have helped much. The ulnar nerve lies within guyons canal which is superficial and ulnar to the transverse carpal ligament and accompanied only by the overlying ulnar artery - so not much protection there. Hand anatomy i know - woodworking, not so much.
Glad your Ok and I hope it heals well.
Scott


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## Jim Jakosh (Nov 24, 2009)

Heck, Doc. That will be healed in no time. Use Neosporin on it and a band aid and you'll never know it was there.
It looks like a clean cut that will fuse together pretty quickly.
Oh, and always take first aid kit in the car!!

I'm glad it was no worse than that- like an artery. That would have required Duct Tape. Better luck next time!.................Jim


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## dakremer (Dec 8, 2009)

PS I love your screen name. I got it right away, because as a running joke between my fiance and I….I use that EXACT spelling (pronunciation) of the word! haha.

Man, you are smarter than I thought. Are we really about to have a "hand anatomy-off?" haha. I better step it up a notch. So here goes. I Stand corrected. While it IS true its superficial to the "flexors" of the forearm. Its not superficial to the Flexor Pollicis Brevis or Abductor Pollicis Brevis which partly add to the meaty protection I was talking about. The Palmaris Longus, along with the rest of the retinaculum provide most of the protection however, along with skin/adipose. It does typically sit at the same level of the tendons of the Flexor Digitorum Superficialis though, so my previous statement was not really that far off! Everyone's anatomy is different, however most people follow this pattern.

Now that we've battled over who's is bigger….I'll agree we are both nerds and need to immediately go make something out of wood to regain our man cards.

(PS, i hope you know i "corrected" you light heartedly, and wasnt trying to be "smarter" than you! - but anatomy is one of my passions, so couldnt resist! )










I removed the Palmaris Longus in the picture so you can see the median nerve underneath


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## dakremer (Dec 8, 2009)

Jim - Duct tape was my first choice! unfortunately none could be found. Had to settle for scotch tape  haha


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## lysdexic (Mar 21, 2011)

Dude, this is fun. Your are correct the palmaris longis does overlie the transverse carpal ligament whose fibers are split longitudinally on the approach to the TCL. At the level and orientation of your laceration the ABP and the FPB arise from the transverse carpal ligament and just the very ulnar border would be visible. In some folks they arise more ulnarly and scraped radially to expose the ligament. However, I do not agree that the median nerve lies within the tendons of the FDS. It is always immediately deep to the ligament and slightly radial. Thus, the TCL is divided biased to the ulnar aspect (we are talking just mm or 2) just to decrease the risk of inadvertent laceration during division.

No offense taken at all. This no more nerdy than being able to identify the differences between a type 11 and a type 13 Stanley plane. OCD - yes. Nerdy - yea probably.


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## lysdexic (Mar 21, 2011)

Definitely agree to the making more sawdust.


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## dakremer (Dec 8, 2009)

You Sand Bagging SOB 




























While these are just artists' renditions, they show what i mean by at the same level of the tendons, or within the tendons. The tendons and the median nerve all lie within the carpal tunnel. However, as you move distally (like where my cut is), the median nerve does become a little MORE superficial than the insertions of the tendons, but barely. So I'll give you that. The flexors of the forearm do not off much protection. To damage the median nerve though, you do usually have to go through muscle first! The body is way too intelligent to leave a major nerve unprotected. Alright. Bed time. Enough thinking - this is supposed to be my day off.


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## lysdexic (Mar 21, 2011)

LOL
My enthusiasm is not that of one-upmanship (how the hell do you spell that). I am just excited to actually to contribute to this site. I am such a babe in the woods when it comes to woodworking. It seems that I just read and read but never contribute. Take Brits blog on the hand brace restoration, I don't have any knowledge like that to share. So you caught me jumping up and down like a school kid screaming "I know. I know" Sorry to sand bag your thread.

I should have just said "Chicks dig scars"


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## jumbojack (Mar 20, 2011)

With all that said are you current on your DTaP? Tetanus you know, pretty serious stuff.


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## bubbyboy (Jan 10, 2011)

Good thing we have two hands so we can continue to drink beer. With no duct tape on hand means you probrably didn't have a beer opener.


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## ShopTinker (Oct 27, 2010)

Accidents also happen when people try to do a job without the proper tools. Learn from this lesson. I saw my son doing this same trick at an outing. He had people standing in line for him to open their beers. I walked out to my car and got a bottle opener for them to use.

Go to the store, buy two first aid kits, put a bottle opener in each one, put one in your car and the other in your girl's car.


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

It's almost always best to do things the right way with the right tools. I'm glad that it wasn't worse. Most of us are guilty of doing things like this as well.


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## dakremer (Dec 8, 2009)

lysdexic,
I too enjoyed this! It is not very often that I get to contribute to LJ's either!! If you were to compare my knowledge of woodworking with my knowledge of Anatomy, I'd sound like a genius…..only because I barely know anything about woodworking! haha. PS - if you love anatomy. Go to visiblebody.com. amazing software for learning/seeing anatomy without going into the cadaver lab.

I should have put that into my post - using the proper tools for the right job! very good point. My hand is definitely not that right tool for this! Atleast I didnt try using a sharp chisel or something. That could have been bad!


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## Dal300 (Aug 4, 2011)

OK, I'm not a medic, but I want in on it too!

Instead of stitches, you could have gotten out the Mechanic/framing carpenters best friend….. Super Glue!

I've used it many times for stupid mistakes that ended up making me leak blood.

The nice thing about it is that you'll never forget that burning sensation of the Super Glue entering the cut. This makes you stop and think the next time you are tempted to perform the same feat and expect different results.

Good Luck, Heal Quickly!


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Glad you're okay.









http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/accessories/756e/

....Never leave home without it….yes I have one…although I only wear it when I know I'll be out drinking lol.


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## racerglen (Oct 15, 2010)

That is one smart looking ring/opener !
I'd think someone will be able to figure out a way to get cut with it as well..
;-)


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## nailbanger2 (Oct 17, 2009)

You are right, Dakremer, that was gross (anatomy, that is).

At least you did something you could fix yourself. This weekend (friday) , my girlfriend tried to pet a Black Widow spider. I have never seen the human hand blow up like that before (over 30 yrs constr., 3 yrs nursing school).


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## dakremer (Dec 8, 2009)

Eric S - that is awesome! I might need to get that! Would have saved me quite a lot of trouble.

Nailbanger - yeah, its never a good idea to pet a black widow! haha. My one and only encounter with a poisonous spider was with a Brown Recluse. Was in my parents garden helping them out, looked down and saw a spot on my shoulder, and there it sat, waiting….haha. You've never seen someone take off a shirt faster than i did that day.

I hope the GF is ok! I heard the Black Widow spider bite is one of the most painful things you can go through!!


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## dakremer (Dec 8, 2009)

Dal300 - I'm not gonna lie, I cringed a little when I saw you use superglue on your cuts!! i know the docs do it, but they dont use the same "superglue" you find in a hardware store. You should never use that kind of glue on an open wound! Hopefully you dont cut yourself often enough to use this technique a lot


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## nailbanger2 (Oct 17, 2009)

Thanks for the concern, she's getting better, the swelling is down to the original size that I first saw (when I didn't know what it was). To give some perspective, she just had surgery to remove a syst that had grown into her sciatic nerve as it exited the spinal column. This made her forget all about that little nuisance. It was a good thing I got her to the ER quick.


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