Tale of the Talon
Jun. 6th, 2025 10:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ceagleSome years ago, over 5 at least, I was working on a fence/gate in the back yard, and somehow I got a splinter.
It was an unusual splinter, as I don't recall its entry at the time, which is also unusual.
Legend has it that torture by sticking bamboo shoots into a victim's fingernails is one of the most horrific pains, but I must've hit just the right spot to bypass the nerves there... at that time at least. In any case, nothing remained sticking out from underneath the nail to see or grab and try to remove, so there wasn't much I could do but hope it would grow out of there with the advancement of the fingernail.
But it wouldn't budge. Eventually it was causing my nail to grow oddly, like a second fingernail was trying to emerge beneath the main one, like Alien's second pair of jaws. This did cause annoying discomfort, and much more clipping necessary than with the other nails.
At one point, I went to a 'fingernail specialist', but they proved to be useless, as they only dealt with cosmetic augmentation, and I left without getting anything done.
I finally got fed up last year and considered trying to cut at least half of the main nail off myself, to dig that thing out of there, if I could just numb it enough to bear it. I bought some scalpels and over-the-counter topical Lidocaine.
It wasn't enough :|
Then a few weeks ago, it actually seemed to start looking (and feeling!) infected. Last night it was almost so painful I couldn't sleep. So I started trying in even more earnest to find a doctor or surgeon to really get this done.
Today I jotted a few possibilities down on a sheet of paper and hit the road. I had already seen a video on YouTube showing removal of an ingrown toenail, which seemed the most likely similar procedure needed, but I couldn't find many hand/finger doctors online. My hope was to see if a toenail doctor might help, or at least have some helpful references.
The first place I went to was closed. Locked up.
The second one said it was very unlikely the podiatrist would do it, but I could wait a while and ask if I wanted. I didn't want to waste too much more of the day, so I moved on.
Next I decided to try the only hand doctor I could find nearby. It was a big fancy website so it had to be legit, right?
I got there, and t'was no sign of such a doctor's office. I showed the website to the security guard, and a few other staff members there. No one had ever heard of the doctor or the practice shown on the website.
But this place was an urgent care center, so I asked if it was something the doctor/surgeon there might consider. They said Yes. (omg) ... So I filled out some forms, paid $15, and waited.
When I first saw the doctor, she wasn't quite clear on the magnitude of the situation, but she did agree that it was characterized by an "infected hematoma" beneath the nail. My entire fingertip has been starting to ache though, and I didn't want it to become septic.
Once I explained about the lodged foreign material underneath the nail and my willingness to have it swept out once and for all, she quickly realized it was necessary, and she and her assistants started setting up the tools needed to go forward.
This required 4 Lidocaine shots, each one at a corner of the base of the finger. It caused the finger to go numb, and also part of the adjacent fingers.
BUT... the sting of the 4 shots was the most I felt once she got started! I didn't watch...
Soon, she showed me the part of the nail she excised, and two pieces of the entire splinter she removed from the area. What a relief! To see that the thing had actually been under there wreaking havoc (and have it gone) was such restorative news!
It's now all bundled up in Neosporin and Betadine, and I've got some anti-infection pills to take for a few days. Also took a Tylenol per the recommendation.
And now that the painkiller has worn off, I can tell that the finger feels *unusual", and a bit owie,...but not the level of previous ache or concern of infection anymore. :}
What a day though... what a 7 year wait! ;P
It was an unusual splinter, as I don't recall its entry at the time, which is also unusual.
Legend has it that torture by sticking bamboo shoots into a victim's fingernails is one of the most horrific pains, but I must've hit just the right spot to bypass the nerves there... at that time at least. In any case, nothing remained sticking out from underneath the nail to see or grab and try to remove, so there wasn't much I could do but hope it would grow out of there with the advancement of the fingernail.
But it wouldn't budge. Eventually it was causing my nail to grow oddly, like a second fingernail was trying to emerge beneath the main one, like Alien's second pair of jaws. This did cause annoying discomfort, and much more clipping necessary than with the other nails.
At one point, I went to a 'fingernail specialist', but they proved to be useless, as they only dealt with cosmetic augmentation, and I left without getting anything done.
I finally got fed up last year and considered trying to cut at least half of the main nail off myself, to dig that thing out of there, if I could just numb it enough to bear it. I bought some scalpels and over-the-counter topical Lidocaine.
It wasn't enough :|
Then a few weeks ago, it actually seemed to start looking (and feeling!) infected. Last night it was almost so painful I couldn't sleep. So I started trying in even more earnest to find a doctor or surgeon to really get this done.
Today I jotted a few possibilities down on a sheet of paper and hit the road. I had already seen a video on YouTube showing removal of an ingrown toenail, which seemed the most likely similar procedure needed, but I couldn't find many hand/finger doctors online. My hope was to see if a toenail doctor might help, or at least have some helpful references.
The first place I went to was closed. Locked up.
The second one said it was very unlikely the podiatrist would do it, but I could wait a while and ask if I wanted. I didn't want to waste too much more of the day, so I moved on.
Next I decided to try the only hand doctor I could find nearby. It was a big fancy website so it had to be legit, right?
I got there, and t'was no sign of such a doctor's office. I showed the website to the security guard, and a few other staff members there. No one had ever heard of the doctor or the practice shown on the website.
But this place was an urgent care center, so I asked if it was something the doctor/surgeon there might consider. They said Yes. (omg) ... So I filled out some forms, paid $15, and waited.
When I first saw the doctor, she wasn't quite clear on the magnitude of the situation, but she did agree that it was characterized by an "infected hematoma" beneath the nail. My entire fingertip has been starting to ache though, and I didn't want it to become septic.
Once I explained about the lodged foreign material underneath the nail and my willingness to have it swept out once and for all, she quickly realized it was necessary, and she and her assistants started setting up the tools needed to go forward.
This required 4 Lidocaine shots, each one at a corner of the base of the finger. It caused the finger to go numb, and also part of the adjacent fingers.
BUT... the sting of the 4 shots was the most I felt once she got started! I didn't watch...
Soon, she showed me the part of the nail she excised, and two pieces of the entire splinter she removed from the area. What a relief! To see that the thing had actually been under there wreaking havoc (and have it gone) was such restorative news!
It's now all bundled up in Neosporin and Betadine, and I've got some anti-infection pills to take for a few days. Also took a Tylenol per the recommendation.
And now that the painkiller has worn off, I can tell that the finger feels *unusual", and a bit owie,...but not the level of previous ache or concern of infection anymore. :}
What a day though... what a 7 year wait! ;P
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2025-06-07 07:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-06-08 05:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-06-08 11:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-06-07 11:46 am (UTC)I had a podiatrist remove a toenail once- four shots and done! No pain at all. Epsom soaks followed.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-08 05:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-06-08 10:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-06-08 08:15 pm (UTC)Recapping... the HMO was only $111 / month, but it was extremely confining and slowwwwwwww with getting things done. The palces they'd send me also always made me feel like a sheep in a vast heard of people waiting. The services themselves (once I could get them done) were satisfactory. But another element (the office staff and bureaucracy) was extremely SLOPPY, always making mistakes the first time, and maybe getting them right the srecond time, maybe. Also Terrible communication... will not answer phone, or keep ya on hold for almost 4 hours. Etc Etc Etc.
As much as I hate to pay it, going back to my more-expensive PPO that I had all the previous years has been a relief.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-09 12:59 am (UTC)The basic Medicare plan is wanting, and costs about the same as the advantage plans which offer more coverage, and a flex card (mine is $75 a quarter, and some other amount toward bills). But you need to investigate it when you’re ready.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-12 05:05 am (UTC)Goodness! Glad that's finally out for ya.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-12 08:13 am (UTC)Thank you so much! ... and also my humble thanks, getting ta see ya peek in over here a bit! ^v^ I hope yoov been well!
Thanks for the comments on the other entries also, and hopefully will git ta c ya again soon, somewheres somehowz! *fluffs your fur gratefully*
no subject
Date: 2025-06-20 02:40 am (UTC)What a roller coaster day that was! How has it been healing up?
no subject
Date: 2025-06-20 06:59 am (UTC)Just went in for a follow up and they said it looks ok, .. I do have to buff and clip some tiny burrs every few days as it grows, or they snag on things... otherwise I'm hoping it's headed in the right direction..
*hug!*
no subject
Date: 2025-06-30 09:06 pm (UTC)*shudders at the thought of it snagging on something* I'm glad everything is going well! *hugs*