Stitches??

[TanksHill]

So I had a bit of excitement this afternoon. While making dinner I heard my dog barking wildly. Went out on the front porch to see what was up. I can see most of my property, yard and such. My 6yo was sitting on the trampoline screaming bloody murder. You know the kind of scream kids get when they are scared s@#$less. So off I ran.

I found her sitting in the middle crying and holding her foot. It had a huge gash across the top. From the info I have gathered her foot slipped under the protective cover and was cut by a metal spring. Now this is the same child who landed on her own arm at age 3 and cracked it. I talked her out he protective safety net and had her sit on the step ladder while yelling for dh and a towel. There was a little blood. DH has no tolerance for blood, guts or barf. That's all for me. So he says "you need to go to the ER". Gee thanks.

Anyways, we just got home from the ER. Almost 4 hours and a 100.00 co pay later. She had a 5 cm cut that required 10 stitches. It looks really yucky. Kinda Frankenstein-ish.

So I watched the Dr. Stitching her up and started thinking. Could I have done this? I mean not on a normal day but in an extreme situation. My mom used to put butterfly bandages on us all the time. I never had real stitches as a kid. The stitches didn't look that hard. The doc did have some fancy knots going on but for the most part it looked relatively basic.

I guess I think I am going to buy the suture kit for my storage. If I had to I could do it. Have you ever sewn anyone up?

gina

 

[FarmerDenise]

No, we used crazy glue. My XDH cut himself badly and told me to get the crazy glue. We wiped the blood off and put the crazy glue on. It stings like he$%. It also disinfects. And it works. I have used crazy glue for small cuts on a regular basis.
I don't think it would work for a kid though, since it does sting like crazy!!!

 

[Gazinga]

I have stiched myself a couple times, as well as others too. Not hard at all. Sterile is the word! make sure everything is sterile and sew it up. its gona smart pretty good. Think the super glue stings, self stitching is worse but really not all that bad. I feel its a must know skill. Not hard to learn and not hard to do. Can use anything for stitch, ive used string and fishing line. both worked well. Agian...Sterile sterile sterlile. heat it up with matched or lighters or using rubbing alcohol dip for everyhting.

 

[FarmerDenise]

Yeah, I imagine stitches without some numbing pain reliever would be pretty hard to take too. Especially since there is usually more than one needed!!!

 

[SKR8PN]

Yeah, I imagine stitches without some numbing pain reliever would be pretty hard to take too. Especially since there is usually more than one needed!!!

That's when the Southern Comfort comes is handy.....or the Canadian Club, or Vodka.....you get the idea.

 

[meriruka]

Didn't they make it illegal now to give your kid alcohol?
When I was a kid I got whiskey & honey for a sore throat and on family gatherings the cousins and I all got 'Moscow Mules' (vodka, ginger beer & lime in a copper mug) but I suspect that was just to shut us up & make us fall asleep.

Surely for medicinal purposes it's ok? Then again, you hardly want your child weaving around the front yard, hammered on vodka and showing off her cool stitches to her pals.......

Perhaps a topical anesthetic would be more prudent.....

My cousin routinely sews himself up, his mom was a nurse & showed him how. Very useful skill to have.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Hubby stitched ou our dogs paw once. Initially we took the dog to the vet to get it stitched up, (with a nice bill attached), and then the stitches ripped out. Hubby decided he would try to stitch it up himself, so he did, and this time it held, and doggies paw healed wonderfully. In a pinch I think it is a good skill to know.

Ds was skinning a deer this winter, and with his brand new knife, he cut just above his thumb. he remained calm, i looked at it, and then said "crap--I think you need stitches. Well, my dd, who is aspiring to be a vet, wanted to patch up ds's booboo. and she did a good job using steri strips and vet tape. if I had 've taken him in, he would have gotten stitches, but this way it healed up nicely. Steri strips are wonderful little inventions, but won;t work for all situations.

 

[lupinfarm]

Our first year living here my brother stepped on a piece of my bedframe getting out of bed (the bed was taken apart) and ended up with a huge gash in his foot. lol.. actually it was a little funny, he came to the top of the stairs and yelled down "mummmm I think I need a bandaid" so up we come with a bandaid and there is blood pouring and puddling out on the floor. Yikes. We drove him to the ER, he almost passed out in the car, lost a lot of blood!

My brother is extremely needle phobic and the ER doctor made it worse, he didn't end up with stitches even though he needed them and the ER nurse patiently showed him how to clean it out, told us what to get for it, and wrapped him up to go home. He spent probably 2-3 weeks on his back because he couldn't walk on it.

We just kept cleaning it and it healed fine. His was really deep, and about 2 inches long. It feels weird when you push on it to him, like numb, so he obviously cut some nerves or something but it healed fine.

I don't think stitches are always needed.

 

[sylvie]

I nearly completely impaled my hand when a branch I was cutting shifted and caused an unrelated branch stub to go through my glove and do damage.
I rinsed it thoroughly before the shock factor wore off and the pain began. I used surgical tape to butterfly it back together and could see that it was beginning to knit the next morning. I kept it bound with an ace bandage for several days so it didn't pop the butterfly.
I checked it a couple times per day for any infection at which point I would have headed to the ER, but it healed beautifully. Must have missed the bones. The tiny scar is almost imperceptible. Full use and strength returned quickly.
I would absolutely have sewn it if I had sterile thread on hand.
I wonder how well a product like orajel would help to numb?

 

[noobiechickenlady]

DH was playing with a new knife he was given for Christmas a few years back & miscalculated when flipping it. He ended up with a nice 2" long cut on his forearm about 3" below his elbow.

We were even broker than we are now, so an emergency room visit was not an option. Thank God he missed major veins & arteries, so he wasn't bleeding badly. Also thank God we had ordered some suture kits for our 72 hour packs.

I stitched him up, no problem. If you don't have blood & guts issues, its not much different than hand sewing. Other than flesh is a bit springier than fabric.

meriruka, my dad used to give me hot whiskey & peppermint when I had a cold. Better than OTC cold remedies which are mostly alcohol anyways.