# You know when you do something daft without thinking?



## RedRider (12 Mar 2017)

Well I just have...



Whilst cleaning my chain. (insert thumbnail seems an apt instruction whilst uploading that pic.) 
In a and e pffft


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## RedRider (12 Mar 2017)

Worst of it is I've not brought a book


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## dave r (12 Mar 2017)

RedRider said:


> Well I just have...
> View attachment 342072
> 
> Whilst cleaning my chain. (insert thumbnail seems an apt instruction whilst uploading that pic.)
> In a and e pffft



In my case it was my finger, beware gruesome picture. I know very well that I have to take care when I'm cleaning the chain on my fixed, but I'm now very cross 
with myself for a beginners error.


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## RedRider (12 Mar 2017)

Not wishing to brag but mine seems a bit more mashed than that. Feel like an idiot. A 47-year-old idiot. 
In other a&e news, 3 kids in football kits so far, each with what looks like collar bone/ shoulder injuries.
Makes me think of this...


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## Sharky (12 Mar 2017)

A long, long time ago, when I was about 7, my dad was showing me how to maintain my bike. He had it upside down on the kitchen floor and was spinning the back wheel. To get a better look at the sprockets, I bent forward and ............... The spinning tyre came in contact with my forehead and ouch, did it burn!

Sixty year later, I can still remember it.


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## DCLane (12 Mar 2017)

RedRider said:


> Well I just have...
> View attachment 342072
> 
> Whilst cleaning my chain. (insert thumbnail seems an apt instruction whilst uploading that pic.)
> In a and e pffft



Sounds familiar. I was in A&E with the same thing last Sunday.


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## Drago (12 Mar 2017)

When I were a kid my mate Stewie lost the tip of a finger while cleaning a chain.


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## keithmac (12 Mar 2017)

×××BEWARE THE SQUEAMISH×××

Google "how NOT to clean your chain GSX-R". 

Short story, it involves a motorcycle in gear on a paddock stand with the engine running, a towel and an unlucky hand..


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## RedRider (12 Mar 2017)

Da daaaaaa....




Well the thumb is fractured and the teeth punctured my nail plate which means I have to go and see a plastic surgeon on Tuesday.
Didn't get any worthwhile painkillers boohoo.


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## User32269 (12 Mar 2017)

Er.....where's your (bloodstained) bike against A&E wall photo?


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## RedRider (12 Mar 2017)

odav said:


> Er.....where's your (bloodstained) bike against A&E wall photo?


Damn it, there was a Pollock-esque pattern too


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## RedRider (12 Mar 2017)

User said:


> Never mind that, why is there no face drawn on the bandage?







Not that I'm pissed off about it like


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## Andrew1971 (12 Mar 2017)

Plus point you still have it . Luckily i have not been that silly yet !!
Andrew


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## PeteXXX (12 Mar 2017)

RedRider said:


> Da daaaaaa....
> View attachment 342136
> 
> Well the thumb is fractured and the teeth punctured my nail plate which means I have to go and see a plastic surgeon on Tuesday.
> Didn't get any worthwhile painkillers boohoo.


I have to give that pic the thumbs up


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## RedRider (12 Mar 2017)

PeteXXX said:


> I have to give that pic the thumbs up


Yeah, I might not be able to ride my bike for a few days but hitch hiking should be a doddle


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## fossyant (12 Mar 2017)

Ouch. I almost did it once but the wheel was turning slowly when my finger went into the gap between chain and sprocket. Very lucky.


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## ozboz (12 Mar 2017)

Ok , Im guilty, it was my fault getting you distracted and daydreaming and about that 7G + Gazzele pic i posted !!


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## ozboz (12 Mar 2017)

GWS mate !


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## RedRider (12 Mar 2017)

ozboz said:


> GWS mate !


Cheers, I reckon I can milk it for a few days yet though


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## Tin Pot (12 Mar 2017)

RedRider said:


> Da daaaaaa....
> View attachment 342136
> 
> Well the thumb is fractured and the teeth punctured my nail plate which means I have to go and see a plastic surgeon on Tuesday.
> Didn't get any worthwhile painkillers boohoo.



Make good use of your new Comedy Hand while you can.

1. Hailing taxis
2. Attracting the barmaid
3. Shopping for gloves
4. Single arm swim races
5. Polishing the table in a single swipe
6. Standing in for the Pie Eating Goalkeeper at the FA cup final


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## Crackle (12 Mar 2017)

keithmac said:


> ×××BEWARE THE SQUEAMISH×××
> 
> Google "how NOT to clean your chain GSX-R".
> 
> Short story, it involves a motorcycle in gear on a paddock stand with the engine running, a towel and an unlucky hand..


Well, the engine wasn't running but I did do it with a motorcycle. I lost all the nail on my thumb. Not all at once. It was falling off for a few days after. Slightly painful, not something I can recommend but on the plus side; I've never done it again.


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## TheDoctor (13 Mar 2017)

Ouch!!
Not done it with a bike, but...
You know those stick blenders? If you're trying to unclog one while blending soup, make sure you unplug it first. Gets a bit ouchy otherwise, and your soup goes pink.


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## RedRider (14 Mar 2017)

Waiting room at tommy's...


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## RedRider (14 Mar 2017)

Don't be an idiot when you're cleaning a fixed gear chain and if you're squeamish don't look at this...


Spoiler










Frustratingly the plastics dept at Tommy's hadn't received the xray from Lewisham which meant I've spent the day waiting around for more pics to be taken. It means I'll have to go back tomorrow to have the nail removed and the plate repaired.
I don't fancy my chances of repairing a roadside puncture for a wee while


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## Tin Pot (14 Mar 2017)

RedRider said:


> Don't be an idiot when you're cleaning a fixed gear chain and if you're squeamish don't look at this...
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...



Ow.


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## zigzag (14 Mar 2017)

i had chainring teeth go through my nail when i was a noob, ended up at tommy's too. the procedure involved (without any anaesthetics) burning two holes through the nail with a red hot paper clip and disinfecting the damaged area underneath the nail by squirting antibacterial liquid from a syringe with a broken-off needle (while pressed into each hole in the nail). it all looked a bit medieval, but both i and the nail survived with hardly any trace


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## Profpointy (14 Mar 2017)

I've done the chain/ finger thing too, albeit only a glancing blow. For this kind of thing the red hot paper clip to burn the nail letting the blood out is instant and easy pain relief.

After a long period of not really hurting myself managed to catch the wrong end of a dropped soldering iron last week.


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## dave r (14 Mar 2017)

RedRider said:


> Don't be an idiot when you're cleaning a fixed gear chain and if you're squeamish don't look at this...
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...



Looks like you did a better job than I did, what annoyed me was I'd done it before a few years ago so knew what not to do but still managed to do it.


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## RedRider (15 Mar 2017)

Well, I had the op earlier today and heard the word 'laceration' a few more times than I needed. I have this strange compulsion to tell you all about it but I wouldn't read on if you're a bit squeamish.
I was chatting to the surgeon as the work was done - three injections of the local realy works huh? - and was told the teeth had actually cut through the bone. They took the nail off and then stitched up the nail bed to cover the bone again. I could see that two teeth had gone through. Fracture should heal in about five weeks and the nail will grow back in a couple of months. The first growth will be rough looking, possibly the second too but hopefully third time lovely.
I'm not getting a lot of pain but it's annoying not being able to use the right thumb. It'll make working on the bike tricky but riding it has been absolutely fine.
Allow me to indulge with a pic of the x-ray but I'll put a spoiler around the more gruesome shot of the nail-less thumb. Gore fans can zoom in for the full effect.





This one behind the spoiler is a bit gory...


Spoiler


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## RedRider (26 Mar 2017)

The thumb's healing up fine and one of the good things about this sorry story is the litany of finger mishap tales that've come my way.

First thing to say is 'blenders, saws and bicycles' for that's what the nurse in plastics and hand emergencies told me when I asked her what causes her the most work. So rest assured fixed wheelers, alongside cooks and carpenters you're helping to keep this NHS specialty in business.

A colleague showed me her scarred finger the other day telling me she'd taken the tip off whilst chopping for a stir fry. For the sake of the story it would've been great had the offending digit ended up flash fried in the wok but happily for her it was rescued and now she has almost 100% feeling back although it's slightly withered.

Today, a bike mechanic told me about his childhood bmx crew and how his mate had come off attempting some mad skillz or other and lost a significant chunk of finger. I mean they couldn't find it anywhere. You can imagine the panic. They got the poor lad home where his mother located the missing joint wedged inside the bar end which should be a salutary lesson to us all about bar end caps.

For the faintless of heart and the sake of my thumb diary I enclose the latest picture within a spoiler. Pink skin is starting to grow over the naked nail bed and although it looks a bit soggy this is only because it took about half a litre of saline solution to soak the stuck dressing off.


Spoiler


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## User32269 (26 Mar 2017)

So wished I hadn't looked at that! 
Good your on the mend.


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## deptfordmarmoset (26 Mar 2017)

I'm not looking at the ones hidden behind spoilers. It's not because I'm squeamish, I tell myself, it's just that I'm not a glutton for gore.


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## RedRider (26 Mar 2017)

odav said:


> So wished I hadn't looked at that!
> Good your on the mend.





User said:


> I am glad you looked at it for me.





deptfordmarmoset said:


> I'm not looking at the ones hidden behind spoilers. It's not because I'm squeamish, I tell myself, it's just that I'm not a glutton for gore.



I'm squeamish myself and so find it a little fascinating how I've been able to look at and cope with this yuk looking injury. To put it in context it's the end of a thumb not the world but even so... i don't think I'd want to look at someone else's.


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