Reply #24: That's great, Aristus! (Warning: squeamish people might not want to read this reply) [View All]

[marzipanni]

33 years ago :o near the end of nursing school we chose a two-week elective in the hospital I chose the ER.
One evening a little boy was brought in, crying, with a blackening, throbbingly painful toenail of his big toe. He had dropped a radio on it.
The doctor held a paper clip with one end pulled straight, with forceps, over a lighter until red hot, then pushed the hot end against the toenail. "Fssssst" and squirt! the pressurized blood spurted out! Though it seemed a rather primitive procedure it provided instant relief. I think I remember asking, "Why a paper clip?" The paper clip wire is a good gauge apparently.
Since then I have done that procedure for my husband's thumbnail when it got smashed between bricks, and my boss' great toenail which she had bruised while hiking. I also recommended it to a nurse friend whose husband's thumbnail had a car door closed on it. Sounds gross, but people love the relief!