Crushed Fingernail? Harbor Freight To The Rescue

[jonp]

Last week I was helping another driver pull a landing gear crank handle down that has gotten jammed against the frame and caught my finger between the handle and frame. It instantly turned black so not good. I put up with it the rest of the day but by the time I got home it throbbed like crazy. I figured it needed fixing and not having someone to put a finish nail in vice grips, hold it over a flame till red hot then melt a hole, yes did that with the help of Hans who showed me "how they did it on the Russian Front" no kidding as he was at Stalingrad, I needed a plan.

Thinking about it got out the Harbor Freight drill press. Put a 1/64 bit in then doused with alcohol. Thinking I might need some drill lube I put some Ballistol on it then put my finger on the shelf and fired it up. Going slow I drilled a hole in the fingernail until blood came out and let it sit. Not all came out so drilled a second closer to the quick.

During that the wife pulled into the yard.
"Now what are you doing"?
" Nothing"?
She stood and watched in case 911 was needed, lol

Much relief and when the pressure builds blood comes out the holes just a little. Still pink and doesn't look like I'll lose the nail afterall. Harbor Freight for the win!

[M-Tecs]

When I worked in the machine shop I drilled dozens of fingernails for a bunch of hurting people. Only once for myself.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Smashed my right thumb working on firewood last summer. Just now starting to look normal.

DG

[John Wayne]

Harbor freight just called. You are now head of marketing!

[rondog]

I've always just heated up a straightened-out paperclip on the stove to red hot and quickly burned a hole in it. Hate doing it, but the relief is worth it.

[RKJ]

I use a sewing needle. Just twist until there's a hole.

[jonp]

Harbor freight just called. You are now head of marketing!

Hey, I saved probably $1,000 over having a doctor do it

[Texas by God]

Eddie from Alabama on the drilling rig told me to twirl your sharpest tip pocket knife on it while watching TV. Just let the weight of the knife do the work. It is a big relief to release the pressure.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[too many things]

it didn't hurt me feel fine

[ShooterAZ]

Heat a sewing needle until red hot, and very gently push onto the nail with pliers. The needle will melt through the nail. My wife somehow slammed her finger in the car door, and I used this method to redeem myself for everything I ever got in trouble for. Instant relief when the pressure is released.

[SeabeeMan]

Did that once when the flag nut on the rear shock on my truck spun on my while using the impact. Crushed my thumbnail between the flag and frame.

Couldn't bring myself to do it with the red hot paper clip, and chickened out on the drill press. I was able to do the exact same thing by hand, spinning between my thumb and middle finger while applying pressure with my index finger. Wife watched in disbelief, probably waiting for me to pass out from the pain. By that time, the throbbing had gone all the way from my thumb up into my neck and was doubling me over in waves.

When it broke through, blood hit the ceiling and the relief was absolutely euphoric. I'm not one for substances beyond whiskey and caffeine, but the rush I got from that has to be up there with some sort of drug!

[gbrown]

Heat a sewing needle until red hot, and very gently push onto the nail with pliers. The needle will melt through the nail. My wife somehow slammed her finger in the car door, and I used this method to redeem myself for everything I ever got in trouble for. Instant relief when the pressure is released.

Yeah, that "Pardon" will last for maybe a month. LOL.

[starbits]

I had one of those fold up ladders and had my thumb in the wrong spot when it folded. Like putting my thumb in a 4 foot long nutcracker. Red hot paperclip to the rescue.

[GhostHawk]

I dropped a 55 gallon steel drum from a height of 4 feet onto my left big toe in my younger years.

Waited in agony for 3 hours for dad "Doc Jamison" to come home. Thankfully he was prelubricated.

He did the red hot paper clip in a pliers thing. When it went through I put blood on the ceiling. Mom was ticked, "How am I going to get that off?"

Instant relief, no more pain.

I remember waking up and "Hearing" dad use a new hacksaw blade on his hammer smashed left thumbnail one night.
Terrible noises you don't ever want to hear coming from your fathers throat.

Don't know where he found out about the paperclip trick but I praise the Lord that he did.

[CastingFool]

I once dropped a full can of soda on one of my toes. spent the morning waterskiing at the lake, cold water made it tolerable, but that evening, while watching tv, my toe started throbbing big time. I got one of my wire sized drill bits, and drilled a hole through the toenail, by twirling the drill bit between my fingers. Once it broke through, and the blood sprayed like a fountain from the flutes, relief was instant.

[GregLaROCHE]

I once had the pressure relieved from my fingernail in a clinic of a third world country. They used a blue double edged razor blade held in their fingers! I then learned about the hot needle trick and did it many times to myself and others. It’s something the first time someone has it done, how freaked out they can be when you say what you are going to do.

[Don Purcell]

Note to self "Drill from the finger NAIL side, NOT the fingerPRINT side", OK, gotcha.

[Brassmonkey]

was the ballistol shop humor or did you really use it?

[Brassmonkey]

Note to self "Drill from the finger NAIL side, NOT the fingerPRINT side", OK, gotcha.

:bigsmyl2:

[country gent]

I to use a small number drill like a 60 between the fingers to put a hole in works and when the small hole grows out it usually only one trimming to get rid of it. Several old timers had sewing needle with a flat stoned in the tip along the needle to make a spade drill for this.

I have seen the drill press and a to big drill grab when it breacks thru and pull thru the finger be very careful doing this

[bedbugbilly]

Do you make house calls? (For those that are too young, that was when the Doctor actually came to you home to treat you). LOL Glad you were able to "get 'er done" and hopefully it will heal up fast.

[Keyman]

Seal the hole with super glue to keep from snagging on things.

[GregLaROCHE]

Do you make house calls? (For those that are too young, that was when the Doctor actually came to you home to treat you). LOL Glad you were able to "get 'er done" and hopefully it will heal up fast.

I remember house calls and my father telling me that doctors used to be poor!

[OS OK]

Geez...I had forgotten about this old'skool RX...

Back in the 50's I was a young kid learning to handle a hammer building a fort...I worked my thumb over pretty good with that dang hammer.
My Great grandmother says..."Don't fret honney, I'll fix it for you."
She starts heating a needle over the stove to red hot and is explaining how it works...
My eyes are bulging out at this idea...I'm thinking..."She's gotta be joking!" I decline immediately.
Granny said in her most loving voice..."OK honney, you come back when it's hurting too much and I'll fix it."
hahaaa...I suffered long and hard that afternoon till it became unbearable and I reluctantly went back ...

The fix was painless & the throbbing stopped almost immediately...I think back at what a wimp I was as a kid! :bigsmyl2:

[Scrounge]

Yeah, that "Pardon" will last for maybe a month. LOL.

You mean an hour? "So, what have you done for me lately?"

[MT Gianni]

I've always just heated up a straightened-out paperclip on the stove to red hot and quickly burned a hole in it. Hate doing it, but the relief is worth it.

A DR treated my 12 year old self that way when I dropped a fire log on it while visiting family in 1966. As a 12 year old boy he warned me to pay attention as I would probably need to do this several times in my life. He said "A needle is too sharp, can go to deep and heating it ruins the temper. Use a straight paper clip".

[WebMonkey]

cordless soldering iron with micro pencil tip.

bradley shock pinch helping the mechanic all my scout buddies said 'stay away from him'.

:(

[jonp]

was the ballistol shop humor or did you really use it?
Used it. Ballistol is approved for medicinal use in Europe. The reason the cans there are red and white is to make sure us dummies in the States don't get confused.

[jonp]

A DR treated my 12 year old self that way when I dropped a fire log on it while visiting family in 1966. As a 12 year old boy he warned me to pay attention as I would probably need to do this several times in my life. He said "A needle is too sharp, can go to deep and heating it ruins the temper. Use a straight paper clip".

Finish nail in a pair of pliers works just as good

[MrWolf]

A small jar of numbing lotion is something else to have around for when you split the nail and hangnails. Stuff works good.

[deerstalkerks]

Eddie from Alabama on the drilling rig told me to twirl your sharpest tip pocket knife on it while watching TV. Just let the weight of the knife do the work. It is a big relief to release the pressure.
Been there and done that!! O'h what a relief it was..

[osteodoc08]

I use an 16/18G needle normally like a drill bit. If at home I’ll do a hot paper clip. You have to do it soon before the blood coagulates. Smells like burnt hair, kinda the same stuff. Nails in general are not that tough and I can suture right through them with a suture needle.

[Shawlerbrook]

Red hot paper clip. Used to premedicate with a few glass of good scotch but since I am on the wagon it’s just ice .

[parson48]

I to use a small number drill like a 60 between the fingers to put a hole in works and when the small hole grows out it usually only one trimming to get rid of it. Several old timers had sewing needle with a flat stoned in the tip along the needle to make a spade drill for this.

I have seen the drill press and a to big drill grab when it breacks thru and pull thru the finger be very careful doing this

I've done this also. Twisting the bit between your fingers took hardly any time, and afforded a lot of control.

[gwpercle]

My Dad would use the small blade of his case "Peanut" pocket knife to "drill" a tiny hole ... when the blood came out and the throbbing stopped it felt soooo good !
I remember watching the "nail hole" move up my finger as the finger nail grew out ... was probably my first biology lesson . My second was getting jabbed with a sharp No.2 lead pencil and waiting to die from the dreaded "LEAD" poisioning ... weeks passed and I didn't die ...it was later Dad told me pencils didn't contain lead ...and graphite wasn't near as deadly !
Gary

[jonp]

That's funny, gary. I still have a streak and small piece of pencil lead in my palm from a mishap in first grade

[jonp]

Looks like I'm going to lose the fingernail. C'est La Vie!

[OldBearHair]

I to use a small number drill like a 60 between the fingers to put a hole in works and when the small hole grows out it usually only one trimming to get rid of it. Several old timers had sewing needle with a flat stoned in the tip along the needle to make a spade drill for this.

I have seen the drill press and a to big drill grab when it breacks thru and pull thru the finger be very careful doing this

Ditto on the breaking through thing. Tip #4 Use a small drill as small as # 71 and drill a hole in a round dowel lengthwise. Then slide the dowel on the drill chucked in the drill motor with the drill sticking out only deep enough to go through the nail. As the drill goes through the nail the dowel acts as a drill stop. Once I drilled with the fingers until blood came out.. I decided the hole wasn't all the way through the nail and twisted the drill some more when it hung and screwed itself into the quick. It did not take very long to quit twisting .

[Pigboat]

I have seen the drill press and a to big drill grab when it breaks thru and pull thru the finger be very careful doing this

We had a co-worker do this and we were all laughing so hard we couldn't help him for a while. :smile:

[rockrat]

Still have a mark in my upper arm from a pencil. Don't think the "lead" is still in there, but hey, it was 60 years ago!!

Done the hot paper clip before, felt sooooo good and was soooo messy!!

[Mr_Sheesh]

I do electronics so I use a pin vise to spin the bit and usually a carbide 20 mil or so diameter bit, I don't get many crush injuries but have had staph or the like under a fingernail a few times; Same sense of relief but it's not blood coming out. Raising an injured finger above heart level can reduce the dreaded "Oww I heel my heartbeat in that finger, in a BAD way!" symptom. And with a pin vise you're drilling pretty slow so chance of overpenetration is reduced.

[tinsnips]

Decided to hit my finger with a hammer at work a few months ago .Used a Dremel tool with a small bit to drill a hole wow that feels good when the blood goes flying.

[Murphy]

Sometime around 1981 I managed to get the butt cut of a chunk of firewood on my left thumb. Lord have mercy! After a couple days of coping with it, something had to give. I'd had several tell me the various ways (all listed above) to get some relief. I wasn't up for heating up a needle and jabbing it through, but had heard of drilling it. That thing was throbbing with every heart beat and some kind of hurtin'. I finally headed down to the shop/barn and got out a Black & Decker hand drill. I found the absolute smallest drill bit I had and got after it, gently of course. When the drill finally 'hit oil' I stopped. Whew! Finally some relief. Of course the entire turned black before it was over. Over the next several weeks, the nail came off in small pieces. I sure wasn't going to force it. Then one evening sitting in church, what remained of the nail came off. I wasn't sure at the time if I was going to lose it forever or what. Thankfully, it grew back normal. I feel for the human it happens to. Of course, I could have went to a doctor and gotten it done proper. But what self respecting 27 year old country did that back then? What was I thinking? Heaven forbid it ever happens to me again, but I won't hesitate to take it up with the nearest nurse practitioner or whatever.

Murphy

[Kenstone]

I use a pin vise with the drill barely sticking out.
I spin it by hand and move the drill out a little bit at a time in the pin vise until it just breaks thru.
Ah...relief
just sayin'
.

[Texas by God]

Or you can hit it again with a hammer......[emoji3064]

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[beemer]

Or you can hit it again with a hammer......[emoji3064]

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

Did that while putting a metal roof on my house. Do you have any idea what kind of distance you can get throwing a 16 oz. blue handle Estwing from the top of a house, down hill.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Probably not far enough for complete satisfaction, but pretty far :)