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Original poster

Thorn in finger, anyone had surgery for this?

33 replies

Pispcina · 22/05/2015 14:39

I scratched my little finger knuckle on a bramble (I think) while gardening last month. I didn't even notice at the time and had thin gloves on so just saw the scratch when I took them off. This was several weeks ago.

I didn't think anything was in there. but my finger swelled a bit and I couldn't bend it at all for a couple of days. I can now use it almost fully but it is painful to touch, and there is a small swelling on the knuckle which hurts.

I dug around at the time and found nothing at all. Yet something must still be there.
I have self diagnosed a monoarthritis, probably tenosynovitis caused by the thorn but don't really know how to approach it as there seems a negligible chance of anything being found in there even if I could get referred for surgery.

It just feels like it will be painful for the rest of my life if I leave it.

Has anyone else had this and did it go away in the end?

OP posts:
sisterofmercy · 22/05/2015 15:20

Are you in a different country from the UK? Most people in the UK would just go down to their GP and let her/him have a look rather than start thinking about surgery immediately based on an internet diagnosis. If you have access to any kind of general practitioner, I would go and make sure all the possibilities are looked at and dismissed as necessary.They'd have more idea about whether surgery was necessary than most if us (bar the doctors who do post here who might be able to advise further.)

Good luck on getting it sorted. It sounds painful.

Original poster
Pispcina · 22/05/2015 16:47

Thanks, I've actually done some pretty extensive reading on this, medical journals, tree surgery and gardeners' forums and so on. It does look like surgery to remove the tiny bit of thorn material is the only path, but I'm trying to find out if anyone has had similar and it's gone away by itself after a while.

If no one replies then I'll obviously just either leave it or go to the GP.

OP posts:
IconicTonic · 22/05/2015 16:54

This might not be entirely recommended but I would be jabbing about with nail scissors, if there is a thorn in there you'll reach puss fairly quickly!

Original poster
Pispcina · 22/05/2015 17:22

Yes, I know, it is tempting to do some sort of minor surgery myself but it's all healed over very smoothly and there honestly was nothing to find when it first happened. I am not too gentle with my splinter hunting technique!

It was more like a 'tear', than a puncture iyswim - it had obviously caught the skin but nothing really penetrated very far. I think I'll have to try and live with it till I have time to bother the GP with it.

Just another of life's little PITAs Smile

OP posts:
Spydra · 22/05/2015 17:26

GP definitely - don't leave it to get worse.

Original poster
Pispcina · 22/05/2015 17:37

Thanks, it's a lot better than it was a few weeks ago so I figured I could leave it and hope it will either sort itself out, or stay the same? It's not infected AFAIK.

OP posts:
SofiaAmes · 22/05/2015 17:43

Yes. GP NOW!!!! Some years ago I scratched my finger presumably while gardening and thought no more of it as the finger got a little red and swollen over a period of several weeks. Then one morning I woke up and the whole hand and wrist was completely swollen and I couldn't move it and it hurt like hell. I went to A&E and they completely freaked out, called a surgeon in and for a few hours they thought I might lose the finger and/or use of it. It was a staph infection in the tendon of the finger. In the end they put me on an antibiotic iv, put the hand in a cast (for some reason immobilizing is important) and attached it to a cable from the ceiling to keep it above my heart. I was in the hospital like that for 3 days. I didn't end up needing surgery because they caught it just in time and it wasn't a drug resistant staph, but I had to do physical therapy to regain full use of the hand for many many months afterwards.

CoteDAzur · 22/05/2015 17:47

Whatever went into your knuckle may have introduced a bacteria into the joint (swelling and pain would suggest this). Something similar happened to a family member. The bacteria ate up most of the cartilage in her ankle by the time it was discovered some months later (X-ray showed significantly thinner cartilage). 20 years later, she still finds walking difficult.

In your place I would get it checked out. Thankfully, I live in a place where we directly go to specialists without wasting time with GPs, but you should be able to get yourself referred for at least an X-ray.

CoteDAzur · 22/05/2015 17:47

X-posts with Sofia.

BIWI · 22/05/2015 17:50

One of my neighbours died like this. Please go to A&E!

kelda · 22/05/2015 17:53

Just go to the GP. You may have been reading up on a few forums, but a doctor has been training intensively for years!

HotelNipplyGort · 22/05/2015 19:02

Oh, feck. Well thank you (sorry about user name. It is me, honestly)

The finger isn't swollen at all - it's a teeny little bump on the knuckle. I don't think there is any infection in there. However given the scary stories I am reading I will go and get it seen to. I don't want to lose my entire hand or anything.

I appreciate your taking the time to post! Oh GOD I could end up like the fingerless plumber. Definitely going to go.

specialsubject · 22/05/2015 20:14

if you are in the UK it could be blackthorn. Go to a GP (it is NOT A and E, not for something that happened weeks ago) and get it checked.

yes, I do know someone who ended up with surgery for this.

yongnian · 22/05/2015 20:20

Just joining the chorus to say - get it checked. As PP said, I also had a friend who had months on months of problems after black thorn poisoning including surgeries and therapy. In her case it took them ages to discover what the problem was as they thought rheumatoid arthritis for a while.

HotelNipplyGort · 22/05/2015 21:07

Thanks so much. I've been reading some more, seems like it may be an aseptic synovitis but it can still do some harm so I'll see if they will do anything other than look at me and laugh. There's so little to see. But it does seem like it's something you have to have looked at with ultrasound, to find the 'bit' and then a hand surgeon takes out the synovium that has gone funny and you have to do exercises to rebuild the strength.

It is fine to use at the moment. Just a tiny little bump that hurts when you press it. But I don't think it is going to go away by itself now. It's been a month I think.

Yes Special it could have been blackthorn, I was planting some, but also clearing the brambles, so assumed it was a bramble - either way they can have nasty bacteria on them I think.

Bugger gardening! More hassle than it's worth! Smile

hellomynameis · 22/05/2015 23:33

The people shouting GP or A&E now are completely over the top.

There isn't an infection. This isn't septic arthritis.

Locally where the forgiven body went it there will be a local inflammatory reaction with granuloma formation. There can be some localised pain for a few weeks. Rarely do these kind of foreign bodies need to be taken out.

I bet in another 6 weeks you won't have any residual symptoms.

HotelNipplyGort · 23/05/2015 08:38

Oh phew, you have no idea how pleased I am to read that! Thank you very much for posting.

I'll keep an eye on it in case it does anything odd, but hoping it won't.

Footle · 23/05/2015 17:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SofiaAmes · 23/05/2015 18:00

hello how absurd that you would diagnose something that you haven't seen and give advice to the OP to not see her doctor because you "bet that it's ok." If you are a doctor, you shouldn't be giving advice without seeing the patient and if you are not, you shouldn't be giving medical advice and advising the OP not to get real advice from a real medical professional.

In my own case, what was a small bruise for many weeks turned into a 3 day hospital stay. If I had gone in to see my gp perhaps i wouldn't have had such a drastic outcome.

And OP, I wonder why you are so worried about seeing your gp and instead prefer to get diagnoses off the internet.

SirVixofVixHall · 23/05/2015 18:03

I was about to mention blackthorn but I see others have already done so. The other thing is magnesium sulphate as mentioned by a pp. We were givem this in school as we often had splinters from sliding on an ancient wooden bedroom floor, and it always drew the splinters out successfully. There is also a homoeopathic remedy, Silica, which is supposed to help expel foreign bodies, so you could try that (6c dose, once a day for three days). Don't use the homeopathic one if you have anything like pins in a bone etc.

Psippsina · 23/05/2015 19:10

Thanks guys. Sofia, I don't like going to the doctor generally, very rarely have childcare so it means waiting with a very difficult toddler in a place where I get anxious about germs.

I am also afraid that the GP will think I am wasting their time, or alternatively, that they will decide to give me antibiotics which I know from the reading I have done, rarely do any good without taking out the thing causing the problem.

I have had some fairly severe experiences with antibiotics and don't like to be in a position where I have to take them or be told 'there's nothing else we can do until you try this'.

I realise that if the alternative turns out to be 3 days in hospital, all of these issues will be far worse variations of the same, but I am hoping it won't mean that.

Looks like asking here was a bit daft as there have been differing responses and I am still none the wiser.

But I appreciate your taking the time to help in any case.

hellomynameis · 23/05/2015 20:00

What is absurd is some of the bonkers suggestions people have been coming out with including running down to the GP or A&E.

Medical advice can be given without seeing a patient. How do you think telephone triage or nhs 111 works ?

90% of the diagnosis is made on history.

Footle · 23/05/2015 20:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SofiaAmes · 23/05/2015 20:41

Frankly in my experience telephone triage and nhs 111 works abysmally. They successfully misdiagnosed pretty much everything I ever called them for and going with your premise....certainly didn't have my "history" at hand. What on earth is a gp for if not to consult for medical issues?

OP it's not clear what you thought you would get by posting on here besides differing responses (the vast majority of which advise you to see your gp).

SofiaAmes · 23/05/2015 20:45

and just to add, of course medical advice can be given without seeing a patient, but it's unwise to do so unless you are extremely familiar with the patient and their ability to convey symptoms and how their body's normal is. My son has a rare genetic disease....his doctors will often give me advice on the phone, but that's only after many years of treating him in the flesh and knowing me and my ability to convey symptomatic information.