Stabbed my finger with tiny screwdriver - need medical attention?

[Ulti]

Hi Hexites,

I know we're not a medical forum but being a techy forum, I imagine I'm not the first one who has done something stupid accidentally like this.

Basically I was screwing in the tiny screws of my new metal bracelet for my Xiaomi Mi Band fitness band from China and one of the screws were rather tight so I used a bit more force and I slipped and ended up stabbing myself in the finger. It didn't go very deep but it did puncture my skin so a little blood came out. I immediately raised it and held onto the finger for a while to stop the bleeding and it's not very painful or numb or anything like that but I did notice there was a tiny bit of metal shavings on the screwdriver before which may have entered my finger. I rinsed it with water not long after the puncture but did not use anything antiseptic.

However, it's been around an hour now and I've noticed there is bit of blackness below the skin:


There's a bit of a black line below the clotted blood and I'm not sure if that is normal or if I should seek medical attention or simply just rub some antiseptic stuff on it then rinse? Again, no pain or anything and I have full functionality and the screwdriver looked new enough so no rust but coming from China, I'm a bit wary.

[peterb]

The black is probably clotted blood. Topicall antiseptic won't do any harm. It's not a deep puncture wound and you encouraged it to bleed, so it should be fine.

Are you up to date with your tetanus vaccination? If not, you might want to see your GP tomorrow.

If it is infected, it will be painful, probably red and swollen round the site of the wound, but unless you are immuno-compromised (and you will know if you are) then the body's natural defences will take care of it. If it isn't healing in two or three days, then see your GP.

Usual caveat, I am not formally medically trained.

[Ulti]

The black is probably clotted blood. Topicall antiseptic won't do any harm. It's not a deep puncture wound and you encouraged it to bleed, so it should be fine.

Are you up to date with your tetanus vaccination? If not, you might want to see your GP tomorrow.

If it is infected, it will be painful, probably red and swollen round the site of the wound, but unless you are immuno-compromised (and you will know if you are) then the body's natural defences will take care of it. If it isn't healing in two or three days, then see your GP.

Usual caveat, I am not formally medically trained.

Thank you for the swift reply!

Yep, up to date with all vaccinations.

I assume if it doesn't really look particularly any worse tonight or when I wake up tomorrow then I should be fine right? Then as you say, I should expect it to heal in two-three days.

I've just noticed the blood clot has pretty much completely hardened so I don't think the antiseptic can get in anyway. Is it worth "scraping" the blood clot off so that I can get some antiseptic to the wound or just leave it as it is and wait? Most little injuries like this I've never bothered to use antiseptic and never had an issue up till now - I just try to elevate it and put a bit of pressure to let it "bleed out".

[GreMMi]

Looks like a blood blister.. this is absolutely not medical advice - but I tend to get some clippers and just cut the skin away and get the clot out. Very messy, painful, wouldn't recommend, but you asked! Blood blisters do tend to get darker after a while though, and hopefully it's that as they are fairly harmless.

[peterb]

No, leave the blood clot in place, it's protecting from infection. If there is developing infection (and there will be bacteria in there, just from your skin, and your body's defences are dealing with them) that temporarily overcomes the immediate immune response then you will get that inflammation. Then it might be worth removing the clot, but for now, leave be.. And even if that inflammation does develop, your body will still deal with it. Pus is just the dead white cells and dead bacteria being expelled from the system.

The real dangers are from deep muscle puncture wounds which compromise the blood supply and are infected with some soil borne bacteria, such as claustridium welchi, which needs anaerobic conditions to develop. The lack of blood supply means that there is no oxygen, and no defence mechanism, and that can lead to gangrene. C welchi is a very common bacteria but poses little danger to normal cuts and scrapes, the immune system kills them off!

[GreMMi]

Pretty sound advice - guess I'm destined for a gangrenous death. Good luck OP!

[Ulti]

Haha thank you nonetheless GreMMi and thank you for the very helpful info peterb. Just gamed a bit for the last hour or so and everything looks the same. I'll mark this as resolved.

[Englander]

It doesn't look fatal - just keep an eye on it and trust in your body's defences

Encouraging bleeding at the time of injury is useful for washing any bits out (that's advice I get in case of needle stick injuries) for the next time you stab yourself with a tiny screwdriver.

[abaxas]

Best get picking your funeral music and saying your last goodbyes.

[santa claus]

Best get picking your funeral music and saying your last goodbyes.

Agreed. Might I suggest "Into the West" from LOTR? I've removed your name from the Christmas pressie list

[ik9000]

this guy in the next village once died after he got a splinter which went nasty. Sounds to me like you've had it mate. Were you listening to Iron Maiden at the same time? If so you've definitely had it if that got in there too. Heavy metal poisoning is serious stuff.

[scaryjim]

Shouldn't worry, about a week after my road accident earlier this year I noticed that there was a small hard lump on my arm, so I picked at it, broke the skin, and pulled out a shard of glass. Blummin' morgul windscreens; always leave a shard

[OilSheikh]

You need to remove it immediately.

Take a needle and dip it's head in Dettol. Then, prick the blister and squeeze out the blood gently. Apply some antiseptic cream time to time ( no need to plaster or bandage ) and the wound will heal on it's own.

[b0redom]

Need to remove what? His finger?

Just leave it. As PeterB said (in the VERY unlikely event) it starts to get infected, it will become red, inflamed and hot to the touch.

[OilSheikh]

Need to remove what? His finger?

Just leave it. As PeterB said (in the VERY unlikely event) it starts to get infected, it will become red, inflamed and hot to the touch.

Was talking about the blood

[peterb]

You need to remove it immediately.

Take a needle and dip it's head in Dettol. Then, prick the blister and squeeze out the blood gently. Apply some antiseptic cream time to time ( no need to plaster or bandage ) and the wound will heal on it's own.

It isn't a blood blister, it was an open wound. And blood blisters don't need to be burst. They heal themselves without intervention.