Anyone medical awake?

[Peppermintpatty56]

I’m writing here because I’m not sure what to do. My dh has been out with friends and he’s clearly broken his hand. It’s a rare night out, not a regular occurrence, no drink problems etc. but he’s definitely had more than a few tonight and managed to fall over. His hand is swollen and so are his fingers including his wedding ring finger, can’t get the ring off. His little finger looks at a weird angle but that might be due the swelling. I’ve iced it, he’s had ibuprofen and paracetamol but he’s fell asleep now. Anyone medical know if it’s safe to leave for a few hours whilst he sleeps himself sober a bit? Obviously we will go to minor injuries when it opens tomorrow morning. Are we ok till then? What a pillock 🙄🫣

Go to A&E. Now. His swollen finger being trapped in his wedding ring can cause tissue necrosis. In English, that means his finger dies and has to be amputated.

His trapped finger is an emergency.

Also, people seem to forget that A&E includes the word "accident". He's fallen and fractured his hand, that's an accident.

Comment edited - ignore that hadn't considered the ring issue.

Use a pice of thread ( dental floss if you have it) to wrap around the finger flattening the knuckle, pass the thread under the ring. It will easily remove the ring . Search for a YouTube video. Otherwise it can wait to go to ED

They’ll wait hours at A&E!! Exactly what minor injuries is for an a lot shorter wait.

MI don't open until 8am and DH has his swollen finger trapped in his wedding ring.

In healthcare. Your husband needs to go to A&E. Potential dislocated finger and the swelling from the ring could cause a cut in blood supply to the finger.

Apply an ice pack to the ring finger/ whole hand to try and reduce the swelling and see where that gets you

She said it wasn’t a regular occurrence

It's just not worth the risk of waiting OP.

It'll be a long night and a pain in the arse (well, finger) but the worst case scenario means it's worth it.

The ring needs to come off asap

Try to get the ring off - if you can't you might be best to drive to the local fire station to cut it off rather than wait in A&E, then determine whether to go to A&E after or wait until Minor injuries open.

Don't attempt removal with a dremmel, etc - you will end up doing more damage if you slip with a tool.

I would suggest that medical people are more likely to have suitable tools for safely removing this ring.

If it weren't for the ring it could probably wait until morning. But given his ring is stuck it could cut off his circulation (this happened to a neighbour of mine a few years ago and she had to go to A&E to get it cut off).

It’s exactly what A&E is for, @GrumpyWombat. It is an emergency because it is potentially a limb threatening injury ie he could lose a finger. The ring needs to be cut off, It may not even be a long wait as limb threatening injuries are high priority.

I fell on my hand and broke it, fingers swelling, I went to the hospital and they had to cut my rings off as I had swollen too much to use sting/lubricant/and amount of pulling.
They have a cutting tool, but it does get hot while it is working.
If I were you, I'd get him there to get the ring off sooner rather than later

With all due respect, when a relative badly broke their wrist and had a swollen hand and fingers and a stuck wedding ring, they were triaged by the ambulance crew at 5.30 and the ring was noted because the crew were concerned. My relative was not seen until midnight, the F2 missed it and it was not picked up until Resus when the more senior Dr was not impressed and couldn't do the reduction until the ring was cut off. When my relative said "well we've been here since 5.30 so there's no point being grumpy with me" she was tersely told not to assert negligence.

@Peppermintpatty56 he probably does need to be seen but there's no guarantee A&E will give a flying or get a wriggle on to deal with it. You might have more luck popping to the fire station.

@Peppermintpatty56 if you have some string, get some oil or butter around the finger and ring, then as tightly as possible wrap the string around the finger to the knuckle. Leave in place for about half a minute, and rwmove, that should temporarily reduce the swelling for long enough to get the ring over the knuckle.

A&E were great when my hand swelled up, and unfortunately had to get my rings cut off. it was a busy Saturday night, but they still got me in quickly, which just shows really, how it's a more important issue than you might think. I was there a maximum of 90 minutes.
I wouldn't leave it until morning. hands can swell really badly.

Take him to A&E, get him to clean teeth and use some mouthwash first so he doesn't smell of alcohol; they will treat him regardless but at least it won't be in his notes that he had been drinking. No point in being labelled, especially as he is not usually a big drinker. He really must go, don't delay it. I am sure will be fine but better to be safe than sorry, especially as he cannot get a ring off - the finger could swell more. Please do it now if you haven't already, phone for a cab.

F2? Resuscitation for a broken hand? A reduction for a broken hand? What does all this mean? Can't follow it but enquiring minds would like to know!

A&E have a minor injuries section. they saw me very quickly when my hand swelled up and I couldn't get my rings off.

F2 is an NHS job grade.

I was seen and out in about 90 minutes (by A&Es minor injuries unit) even though the signs said the average wait was 4 hours. that shows you how important they consider swelling around rings.

OP, unless you know what you are doing, please put the hacksaw and Dremmel away.

Go to A&E. Get it sorted now, even if it takes all night.

Just imagine the gift or night out you can demand in return for being so amazing. 😁

I'm probably way too late now, but maybe it will help someone else. Swollen fingers with rings - Ice +++ (for 15-20 minutes). Then tresemme hair conditioner - it's really slimy and slippery. Worked for me when I had a bad hand injury