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Children's health

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Child got little finger in door (picture attached)

4 replies

Notgoodpt · 20/06/2022 14:33

I am in ED, the nurse just told me that they are very busy so I am facing a wait of 7-8 hours. My 3 year old had her finger at the door in nursery school when another child close the door. I wouldn’t be too concerned but her nail is completely cut from her finger and oozing a bit.
I asked the nurse if I should be better going home and he obvs told me he is not a doctor, but it doesn’t look too bad. My gp won’t take any appointments after 10am. Child is a bit traumatised, holding little finger up, can’t tolerate being touched there.
Should I stop being a drama queen and go home?
how do I manage it? Should I cover it? She will probably Hurt it when moving in bed in her sleep so I will have to put a bandage around it (imagine it gets caught in the sheets/clothes and rips out 😖

OP posts:
WhatsInAMolatovMocktail · 20/06/2022 14:48

Oh gosh poor thing, I have ripped nails out in doors like that - it was a habit as a child unfortunately.

Don’t try to cut off the dead nail yet.

I would gently bathe it in tepid water to clean it up a bit. Then dab it dry with lint or let it air dry (no cotton wool, the fibres will snag).

Then put some antiseptic cream on, just a little not enough to make it gungy.

Then gently put on a lint dressing, large enough to easily cover the nail and nail bed and then tape it so it’s a nice fat protected area. I guess any kind of medical tape is ok, but I’d probably use that papery microporous tape.

Do NOT use a regular elastic plaster with a tiny bit of lint in the middle, as it is likely it could slip and the elastic sticky stuff on that nail would be very painful and likely end up with ripping it off worse.

If you are still worried about bashing it or snagging it, you could at night gently tape the little finger to the ring finger, to stabilise and protect it.

You will likely then need to replace the dressing in a few days and if it looks fine, then swap out for a dry dressing. But keep it protected for enough time that the nail starts to recover.

in due course the nail will drop off completely, or you can snip off the dead part without it being incredibly painful and the skin will have hardened and healed enough to leave it open to the air so it will regrow.

Notgoodpt · 20/06/2022 15:15

Thank you very much for your advice! I hate wasting the time of ED staff, but most parents are just scared and just want a bit of advice.
She fell off a bench yesterday at a restaurant and bled through her lip and today this. Is this what the terrible 3 look like? 😭😭😭

OP posts:
BlanketsBanned · 20/06/2022 15:20

I would speak to a pharmacist you can buy finger dressings, foam pads and plastic finger coverings to keep it dry and protected.

windowstothesoul · 20/06/2022 21:02

@Notgoodpt how did you get on?

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