mechanic or welder?

I posted earlier about my fingers losing battle
with the car door over the weekend.
By Tuesday it had swelled up like a skin balloon.
Of course this weeks project was hard to reach mechanical chit,
and throughout the day each little tap or rub tested the pain threshold.

drillium

It had been over 10 years since I had a good finger smash,
and I remember poking a hole in the fingernail to relieve the pressure.
A medical consultant friend Aaron confirmed this was the thing to do.

something's wrong with your finger dad! - Macey 2013

Obviously its been a couple days now,
but I've found out that a many friends have done the same thing,
and there are two variations on what to do.
It seems to go with my theory of the workingman's core brain default -
mechanic vs welder.
There's more than one way to skin a cat,
and usually people will pick the one they're more comfortable with.
I was surprised that half my friends would use a drill bit,
and the other half would use a hot pin.
This is a hotly contested debate,
and the only conclusion is to agree to disagree.
Personally I think the drill bit technique is a bit sadistic,
as it takes pressure to push the drill bit into the nail.
Why add more pain?

This one's for Steve and Keven...
"How to - drain a subungual hematoma",
that's "how to drain a smashed throbbing finger!"

chillin

First off is to clear enough room on the dinner table.
If the kids haven't finished eating,
than they should have eaten earlier.

Dig out an ice cube,
and hold it on top of the nail.
This will numb it a bit although this is only for show,
there is very little if any nerve endings in the bubble of blood.
Find a candle and a larger safety pin.
The safety pin won't heat up and burn your finger when holding it.

subungual hematoma

Here you can see the comparison.
Aaron said the nail will most likely fall off,
as the suction has already been broken by

hot pin

I couldn't find a larger safety pin,
so this one would have to do.
It took a couple reheats to melt out a good hole.
A slow circular motion will keep the pin from sticking.

poking hole in smashed finger

Everyone says there's a geyser of blood,
but a face shield isn't necessary.
Mine actually made a light whistle.

draining a blood pocket

The relief was instant.
There was no pain from the hot pin,
the blood cools it off so fast.

poking another hole

I couldn't stop and made a total of 3 holes.
Make sure to squeeze the blood out,
you can see it through the transparent nail.

squeeze

Special thanks to Jaxon for taking so many pictures!

relief

The size difference is obvious in this side shot.

sangre

I was able to squeeze almost all the blood out.
Pushing the finger down onto the table,
keeps enough pressure to not let air seep back in.
After a couple minutes it'll seal up.

ahhh...

Try it you'll like it!

TP