The least expected is the one to watch out for.

**BobL** · 15th August 2010, 01:25 AM

When I can get away from pushing paper, my day job involves high voltage, using liquid nitrogen and argon, and many dangerous chemicals etc, but yesterday I mashed the tips of all 4 fingers on my left hand while closing a goods lift door at work. We were moving a 270 kg tank of liquid argon and all my focus was on handling this beastie and didn't take enough care over other things!

The lift door is about 3 m wide and the doors are the type that close vertically by pulling on thick webbing straps hanging from the door. The inner door closes from the top all the way down, and outer door closes by pulling the top down halfway while the bottom half of the comes up to meet it. Normally the lift is operated by only closing the inside door door. So I grab the strap I thought was for the inner door and gave it a good hoike. Unfortunately I had grabbed the one for the outer door and did not see the bottom half of the door coming up to meeting an the fingers on my left got whammied. Luck the strap got caught up in the gap other wise I may have mashed them even more and even trapped them in between the doors edges.

6 fractures (black lines), two tendon detachments (T) and two spots where the mashed bones broke skin (S and 2S). The 2 fingers with the detached tendons have to be in splints for 6 weeks.

This pic was taken just a minutes afterwards and while it doesn't look that bad - the fingers have now swollen up like purple hotdogs and boy do they throb, even though the docs have put me on some serious pain killers.

I'm thankful it wasn't my right hand and at least I can still type

**wheelinround** · 15th August 2010, 08:28 AM

ouch thats a bummer Bob at least your still able to take good photo's

R&R and a day out taking pics will make you forget all about the pain.

**munruben** · 15th August 2010, 09:19 AM

Ouch! I can almost feel that.

Could have been a lot worse though. Have a speedy recovery and get back to the shed soon as possible.

**Claw Hama** · 15th August 2010, 09:39 AM

Yes hope it heals quickly Bob, just like driving at night, its the Roo's you don't see that get you.

**kevjed** · 15th August 2010, 11:03 AM

Bob,
I hope the recovery is as swift and painless as possible.
I hope it doesn't put too much of a dent into the rest of the trip.
All the best
Kevin

**jmk89** · 15th August 2010, 11:53 AM

**Enfield Guy** · 15th August 2010, 01:48 PM

Nasty!!!! Hope it heals well and soon.

Cheers

**martrix** · 15th August 2010, 02:56 PM

oh nasty Bob! Could've been worse though. I'm gonna assume your right handed?

**BobL** · 15th August 2010, 03:32 PM

thanks for all the sympathy guys.

Originally Posted by martrix

oh nasty Bob! Could've been worse though. I'm gonna assume your right handed?

yep right handed.

The pain killers they have given me are making me feel nauseated and wobbly at the knees so I've reverted to just plain ice packs which seem to be working.

**martrix** · 15th August 2010, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by BobL

thanks for all the sympathy guys.

yep right handed.

The pain killers they have given me are making me feel nauseated and wobbly at the knees so I've reverted to just plain ice packs which seem to be working.

what did they give you?
I myself am recovering from Shingles right now, supposed to be old people disease.

Got a wheelbarrow of Panadeine Forte, only had a couple of half tabs though, heard they can get addictive.

**specialist** · 15th August 2010, 06:46 PM

There is nothing worse than bashing the ends for you fingers and toes

, let alone 4 of them at once

. I can't even imagine the pain that you registered.

I hope that the damage isn't too great that you lose the feeling in the tips of you fingers.

Anyway, hang in there, they will heal soon enough and you can be back to doing what you enjoy.

Robert

**bsrlee** · 15th August 2010, 09:05 PM

The risk with Panadeine Forte is that the Paracetemol destroys your liver well before the codeine can become addictive - lost a couple of relatives to it. Paracetemol poisoning is a slow & nasty way to go.

**BobL** · 16th August 2010, 07:34 AM

Originally Posted by martrix

what did they give you?

Oxycodone HCl acetaminophen. Pain relief kicks in within a couple of minutes but the side effects are nausea, wobbly knees, disorientation and feeling you're not in control - I hate that. Plus the threat of bunging me up (see below) is enough for me to wear a bit of pain in that regard. They gave me 12 tablets to take 6 hours apart and I took 4 of them over the 24 hours following the accident, but stopped taking them 24 hours ago and this morning I read up about then on the web and sure enough the side effects are exactly as described. The ice packs are more inconvenient but otherwise seem to now be quite effective.

I myself am recovering from Shingles right now, supposed to be old people disease.

I had that in 2004 - not nice. A bloke at work got that in the inner ear. Horrible stuff.

Got a wheelbarrow of Panadeine Forte, only had a couple of half tabs though, heard they can get addictive.

I took Panadiene Forte when I had Shingles. They bunged me up something horrible so I went full bore on the fibre intake and had a massive gut pain followed by one of the worst days of my life!

**BobL** · 21st August 2010, 10:00 AM

Today the click-clacky Al splints and stitches were removed and all is doing well. Two of my fingers tips now have hard plastic canoe type splints which I have to wear for 5 more weeks, then wear them on and off for 4 more weeks. The splints are held on by small velcro straps and can be removed for cleaning. When I doing so my fingers have to be bent backwards at the tips by holding them up against a hard surface.

**dai sensei** · 21st August 2010, 11:42 AM

Good grief Bob just saw this one

Not good news, hope it heals well, and quickly.

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