I should not be allowed to handle sharp things. Stiches needed?

Have you ever actually stabbed, not sliced, your hand?  I was cutting potatoes up last night at the restaurant, and the steak knife (I have a bad habit of using steak knives for everything) slipped, and went horizontally into the fleshy past of my palm--about 1/4". It didn't hurt--but it felt weird--just like when you poke a knife or fork into the fleshy area of chicken breast to test to see if it's done. And it did bleed for a 45 minutes. They wanted to take me to the ER, but I thought I was ok. And no, I managed to save the potato--no blood on it!    The cut keeps opening up over 24 hours later. DH  says that they don't suture that part of your hand, but the cut starts to heal, then opens up over and over again. Is he correct?

The day before, I cut one of my fingers on that hand with a steak knife.

I need to stay away from serrated edges!!!

The title should read "STITCHES". Sorry!

Ow, that sounds very painful.

I've managed to stab, cut, burn and scald myself in the kitchen. I'm really bad at cooking, the food is usually inedible and I end up maimed in some way.

I'm not sure if you'll need stitches or not, I hope it heals up on it's own.

You can go to any store that sells bandages and buy what they call a 'butterfly' bandage, it pulls the edges together and holds it there.  They also have clear strip 'sutures' available, but I have only used them at the nursing home where I worked to suture gaping skin tears, they work really well, you apply them and let them be until they fall off. Water doesn't affect them. Both will hold the edges together until healing occurs, I have used both on wounds that I received that were pretty bad and all healed nicely. You might get some to keep on hand! Make sure your tetanus shots are up to date and watch for any signs of infection, extreme redness, heat and colored drainage. With a 6500.00 deductible, I do most of my minor doctoring myself, and now Blue Cross has informed me my premium is going up 120.00/mo. at the beginning of the year,   

Oh, I am so sorry; that has to hurt. I would think your husband is correct because when you flex your hand to do most anything, it probably would re-open. Is it? Do you seem to be having any problems with it now?

Last year, I was peeling peaches and put my paring knife into a soapy tub of dishes. A few minutes later, I put my hand into the tub and the tip of my paring knife went into the end of my thumb, right under the nail. Hurt! I said some really fancy words while I was dancing around in the kitchen. We thought I might need an ER visit, but it eventually stopped bleeding. Meanwhile, until it did stop, Rick had to peel peaches.....he was not amused. A few bandages later, I was back in charge of peach peeling. But that hurt for quite a while.

I've done that. I would try the butterfly bandage and if that doesn't work, you may have to have it looked at.

I was cutting onions and stabbed myself right at the base of my left index finger right above where the webbing to the thumb starts. I probably should have gone for stitches but did not. I have no idea if they would have stitched it or not. It wasn't fun, took a while to heal and I have an adorable scar there. 

Di and Bob said:

You can go to any store that sells bandages and buy what they call a 'butterfly' bandage, it pulls the edges together and holds it there.  They also have clear strip 'sutures' available, but I have only used them at the nursing home where I worked to suture gaping skin tears, they work really well, you apply them and let them be until they fall off. Water doesn't affect them. Both will hold the edges together until healing occurs, I have used both on wounds that I received that were pretty bad and all healed nicely. You might get some to keep on hand! Make sure your tetanus shots are up to date and watch for any signs of infection, extreme redness, heat and colored drainage. With a 6500.00 deductible, I do most of my minor doctoring myself, and now Blue Cross has informed me my premium is going up 120.00/mo. at the beginning of the year,   

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My first thought was of those sutures too. I've always heard them referred to as 'Steri-Strips' (a brand name, I think :dk: ). I'm appalling clumsy with all kinds of things - to the point where its a wonder I still have all my fingers :rolleyes2 :lol3: My other standby is adhesive hydrocolloid dressings, but I suspect a 1/4" deep cut would be too deep for those to work well with.

That cut sounds nasty, and in a horrible place too You do need to find some way to stop it opening up with movement, or it'll take a lot longer to heal. :cross: that it heals fast and cleanly

I'm not suggesting that anyone else should actually do this, but when I was studying ceramics at university I cut my hand pretty badly. Not bad enough to need stitches, but bad enough to mean I wouldn't have been able to throw for a few days. I cleaned the cut and then used superglue to stick the flap of skin back down. Superglue was actually developed to use in this way, I believe.

My hand healed up really well and I was able to carry on throwing.

Norachan said:

 
I'm not suggesting that anyone else should actually do this, but when I was studying ceramics at university I cut my hand pretty badly. Not bad enough to need stitches, but bad enough to mean I wouldn't have been able to throw for a few days. I cleaned the cut and then used superglue to stick the flap of skin back down. Superglue was actually developed to use in this way, I believe.

My hand healed up really well and I was able to carry on throwing.

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I have definitely heard of using super glue for cuts before

http://www.drweil.com/health-wellness/balanced-living/healthy-living/super-glue-for-first-aid/

I use superglue for finger cracks all the time. Also when they use "surgical glue" for a cat's spay incision, that's just superglue.

My mom once was trying to pry the face off a clock with a steak knife (stupid! Don't try that!), and put the knife in that fleshy spot in between her thumb and forefinger. Fairly deep, but not all the way through. She went to emergency and they did stitch it. . .but that was back in the '90s; last time she had a puncture wound they told her they don't stitch punctures. So idk if they would stitch it nowadays. But, yeah, those butterfly bandages do pretty much the same thing so as long as you don't get infected you can probably deal with it yourself.