what is the worst that can happen if I leave glass in my thumb?!


Question: What is the worst that can happen if I leave glass in my thumb?
A couple of months ago I stupidly picked up glass from a monitor screen with my hands. I ended up cutting my thumb pretty deep and I could see clearly into the wound (once the bleeding stopped).I decided to go to A&E to get it looked at and the doctor had a quick look and said she couldn't see anything in the wound, she bandaged my thumb up and sent me away. However when the wound had healed I pressed down on it and could feel a sharp pain. I am pretty confident there is glass in my thumb but I really don't have the time to wait in A&E for hours on end + I have had a needle in my hand before and it doesn't feel pleasant.

I were never worried about it until today when my mate said I could die if I don't get it taken out? WTF is that possible?

Answers:

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Over time, you could have the glass work it's way through the skin, deeper into the hand, work it's way into a joint and cause worse pain. There's lots of things that could happen from it's movement under the skin. I would not anticipate death to be among the things that could happen, but you could end up with worse pain than you're experiencing with a needle trying to remove it.

If you ask the physician to numb it completely with a nerve block at the base of the thumb before working on it, that should prevent you from feeling ANYTHING for nearly 12 hours. So, don't worry about the pain. If it was up to me, I would have it removed.

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Retired police crime scene detective and CEO of a zoo & science museum. Degree in Marine Science, Biology & Chemistry from the University of Miami.



Your finger could become infected, the pain will not go away until the glass is removed. IF the infection were not taken care of then it could reach your bloodstream and a chance of death is possible if you were to continue to ignore it.




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