Log splitter injury (no pics)

[Ed of all trades]

My uncle got careless in his old age and lost a finger cleaning out the discharge on his riding mower. The Doc sewed it back on and the next year he reached down and pulled on a V belt that was slipping and lost the same finger. He said he should have just left it off the first time and saved the extra pain. One thing about Uncle Harry, I never in all the years I knew him saw him get excited about anything, even loosing a finger, twice. Ed

 

[s219]

Interesting log splitter here........looks a little dangerous.....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TnPAGyx12Y

I have seen those before, but that one looks especially dangerous. Seen others that seemed a little tamer.

 

[JMER817]

I have seen those before, but that one looks especially dangerous. Seen others that seemed a little tamer.

That's insane

 

[s219]

Saw doc this morning, and while I am not out of the woods yet, so far things are progressing OK and no infection. Knock on wood. They took out one stitch on the pad of the finger to help it drain, and I got a smaller bandage job open at the tip to let things breathe a little better. Have another appt on Thursday.

The pain now is steady and medium, but with intense twinges coming in spurts here and there as things mend. For the second night in a row the pain is noticeably is worse at the end of the day. I woke up from a short nap this afternoon with intense pain and figured I must have hit the finger or maybe it wasn't elevated enough, but it calmed down very quickly.

Aside from the medical complications and risks, this experience has made me feel vulnerable as I look around and see all the chores/responsibilities that can't be done by a one-handed man. Some of it will just have to wait or get skipped, though my wife can handle the important stuff (in addition to being a busy full time mom, god bless her). Makes me think I will need to simplify our country life as we get older or ever have really serious medical issues.

 

[GPintheMitten]

Sorry about your injury. Thanks for the safety reminder.

Having cut through 2/3 of the tip of my thumb last November, I can almost literally feel your pain.

In my case they cautioned me against using ice because it reduces blood flow which for me was questionable.

Good luck with your healing and recovery.

 

[LD1]

Does your SWMBO have tattoo too?

Yep, got them at the same time as well.

 

[PhysAssist]

Saw doc this morning, and while I am not out of the woods yet, so far things are progressing OK and no infection. Knock on wood. They took out one stitch on the pad of the finger to help it drain, and I got a smaller bandage job open at the tip to let things breathe a little better. Have another appt on Thursday.

The pain now is steady and medium, but with intense twinges coming in spurts here and there as things mend. For the second night in a row the pain is noticeably is worse at the end of the day. I woke up from a short nap this afternoon with intense pain and figured I must have hit the finger or maybe it wasn't elevated enough, but it calmed down very quickly.

Aside from the medical complications and risks, this experience has made me feel vulnerable as I look around and see all the chores/responsibilities that can't be done by a one-handed man. Some of it will just have to wait or get skipped, though my wife can handle the important stuff (in addition to being a busy full time mom, god bless her). Makes me think I will need to simplify our country life as we get older or ever have really serious medical issues.

Hi S219,

Glad to hear you're moving along in the correct direction!

Be careful about how you are going about doing things one-handed, because that activity is often why the pain is worse as the day goes on, even when you are not using the injured limb at all.

Being vigilant about keeping it elevated above your heart helps to reduce the swelling and throbbing, something that falls by the wayside once the zzzz's come, which may be why you're waking in pain.

Sometimes the better part of valor is sleeping in the recliner so that you can keep it elevated by using a pillow to prop it up.

Take this time and rest- remember you only have so much reserve and right now your body is trying to use those to heal you, and if you don't limit yourself now, that can take longer, and the risk for poor/non-healing is higher.

Speaking of simplifying, because we live in the NE, we are seriously considering switching over to coal to save on the kinds of potentially injurious activities that come along with wood burning for heat.

God bless,
Thomas

Ultrarunner- I guess I coulda just said "Ditto", Except I am both a patient and a medical professional, so now your comments are confirmed.

Except that Miralax [store brand] or any senna product is a better laxative choice- opioids constipate by slowing bowel activity, and stimulants do better than fiber- which requires increased moisture to work, and if it sits too long in the bowels turns the mud to bricks [so to speak].

 

[Paystar]

Ouch. Had one of my fingers crushed when I was a kid changing tires on a dump truck. Funny how it doesn't really hurt until you realize what you did, LOL.

I have a retired neighbor that likes to come over and help me split wood, and this is one of the reason's I don't like it. He likes to go as fast as he can and a few times I had to reprimand him because he'd be pulling the lever before I even got my hands off the block.

 

[s219]

Appreciate the medical advice guys -- it makes sense and I will work harder to keep that left hand elevated. That clearly has a very direct effect. I have limited my activity to about the minimum -- mainly just sitting around watching TV -- which is hard to do for me. But right now nothing else really needs priority, or is worth messing with anyhow.

 

[ruffdog]

The first night after I squished my finger the pain was real bad. It was a good thing I had some strong pills from a previous surgery. It will get better but rehab is very important. Your whole hand will want to stiffen up so do your therapy when the doc says so. (keep it limber)

 

[ultrarunner]

A crush is often much worse than a cut...

Maybe you can use the time to make some plans or even work on your taxes :-(

 

[s219]

Shoot, I ought to work on my taxes while I am already feeling lousy -- good idea!

 

[ultrarunner]

Misery loves company!

 

[ruffdog]

Yep, cold spell here....highs in the teens.....tax time!

 

[crazyal]

Back just before Thanksgiving I was splitting the last of the wood for next season. I split it, load it onto a trailer and into the back of the side by side, then bring it close to the house to stack. While I was unloading the utv a small piece tumbled down and hit my ring finger. Didn't really think much about it but 15 minutes later I saw blood under the fingernail (we all knows what that means). I cursed but continued stacking. I had hoped it was going to be just a little blood and maybe save the finger nail. Te next day I found that wasn't the case. The next day all around the finger nail was now black. By the end of the day there was a 1/4" ring all around the nail. At this point I was afraid I might have broken the finger. A week later I lost the nail. The new nail is about a third of the way grown back in. If I didn't have 50 acres of hardwoods I would just use pellets.

I know what you mean about how much things would change if I got hurt or worse. Because we live out in the country and my wife has an eye condition limiting her driving she wouldn't be able to live here. In the winter there's no way she could use the tractor to blow snow since it's often done at night but also because replacing sheer bolts would be beyond what she could do. Because we are at the top of the hill it's all but impossible for someone to plow up the driveway so she would have to find someone with bigger equipment to tackle it. That's just two issues out of many. I think we both agree when we retire we are going to sell this house and move somewhere warmer with more of a focus on "what if".

 

[s219]

I spent winters in northern VT for a few years -- life is a lot harder up there at times, so I understand what you're saying.

I generally like having a little challenge day to day, and like feeling I earned my rest at the end of the day. But this injury has me seeing the downsides of a lifestyle where good health is required just to keep up with things. We're about to get a serious cold snap, and I will need to talk my wife through blowing out an outside water line I had to use last week. At the time I remember thinking I would come back and blow it out when I needed to, since I had other things to do right then. Now with one less hand available and the need to rest/heal, I can see that was a bad idea. Now we're going to have to kludge this the best we can. It would have been fast/easy if I did it last week.

 

[farmer2009]

Good to hear you're doing better. If all you are doing is sitting and watching tv. Consider leaving the bandage off some. Let it air and dry. As long as it's not bleeding or oozing. That's when my cuts really start showing healing progress.

Since others are letting you know you're not alone. I'll share why my finger nail trimming has been going 10% faster.

Was out looking for a new tractor around thanksgiving. Saturday. Pulled onto dealers lot and get out to look. It's a windy day. I'm closing my door hand still on door thumb on inside of door, fingers outside. Wife leaves her door open and opens sons door. Did I mention it was windy. Wind sucks my door closed hand still on it. Door latches. Thumb still inside. Pinched just behind the nail. I open door and am laying in the seat with a purple thumb already before wife notices. Quick care the next day for x-rays. Not broke. They tried draining it but not much luck. Friday that week I'm back at my doctor because I can't feel the thumb and still swelled. He says "You can dic around with that for the next few months or I can remove it and you have to be careful with it for a few weeks. Till it scabs good and starts growing back." He takes off nail. Then says "If you don't feel that in 2 hours come back". An hour later it was hurting. It's about halfway grown back now.

 

[daugen]

painful reading...but sure important because many of us love to use firewood.
this is a topic that really interests me.
I've been doing it for over sixty years. Started off with two older brothers and father splitting seven cord a winter
before they had logsplitters. Buzz saw on JD B, wedges and prayers not to get hurt. And amazingly we didn't.

Now I live by myself and using my logsplitter, which I adore, a TSC large model that works great, I have to be
extra careful because other than my cell phone, which I religiously carry, I'm on my own and not within sight of neighbors.
And i don't care if I'm a retired insurance underwriter and risk averse, I can still screw up and hurt myself.
Personally I think it gets down to that old saying
Familiarity Breeds Contempt
though in this case I'd say it breeds lack of care, no matter how you describe it,

you forgot to do what you knew you had to do.
Operator error accidents.
Not mechanical failure.
Operator failure.

And absolutely yes to stopping before you get too tired.
So we have to be extra careful later in the day.

I'm sorry for your injury and thankful for your educating us here.
Sharing this kind of info will hopefully help someone else prevent getting hurt
and then you have done a very good thing.

Steel toed shoes. Kevlar gloves. Safety glasses.
Hands wide open when the ram is moving, meaning out of the way and where you actually see them
and not where you think they are. Muscle memory isn't perfect...
and I bet more folks get hurt on the very end of the logsplitter, the flat part, getting their hands in there, than anywhere else.
I admit to sometimes darting my hand in to clear out wood junk while the ram is reversing and thinking
to myself, that's pretty stupid. As i keep doing it. Need to use a stick, NOT my hand.
Operator error.

Cold weather settling in, time to burn more firewood so I can split some more next year.
I have about 14 acres of woods and there's always something to harvest that's dead in there.
Great fun. I don't hunt deer; I'd rather hunt a nice dead red oak...:thumbsup:

Weren't we all told fingers don't grow back as little kids?
Just remember the Hill Street Blues sergeant sending his officers out from the break room with the warning "be careful, it's dangerous out there".
I want to have fun but getting hurt sucks.
S219, it's great exercise, the wood smells wonderful when you split it, keep going as a smarter operator. Hope that finger gets better quickly.

 

[s219]

Thanks for the kind words and advice all, I appreciate it.

Finger again looked to be improving at yesterday's checkup. Took out another stitch (leaving 6 of 8) that was pinching the skin. They want to see me again on Monday to make sure blood is flowing OK, so I suppose that is now a bigger risk than infection. I expect this finger will always have circulation and cold sensitivity issues now.

I may have overdone it elevating my hand, as yesterday afternoon my entire arm and hand fell asleep and was uncomfortable. I let it stay down for a couple hours and it improved (color got better too). So today I am moderating the elevation.

Pain is OK in mornings, but by evening I really feel it. I took a painkiller to help me sleep last night, since I wanted to get up early this morning and get into work for 1/2 day. Can't say the painkiller helped the pain or helped me sleep, but I sure did feel cozy and happy in bed. I guess they sort of block the part of your mind that cares about the pain.

I don't know when I will be out of the woods medically, or when I will be back outside in the woods doing chores, but my mind is thinking about how much more careful I will be around the splitter. I have proven I was not careful enough, so I'm going to have to add some operational procedure for dummies to make sure this sort of needless injury doesn't happen again. I often find that treating myself like a known dummy is a sure way to avoid repeat problems....