Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Real Purpose of Neosporin

Last night, while cutting up some peppers, I sliced a bit of the end of my thumb off (just the skin). Trying not to drip all over everything, I had Ed apply a bandaid (feeling grateful, once again, that we have the nice fingertip kind that are shaped well for just such a purpose). It was partly successful at containing the mess.

This morning, I went to change the bandage. I was completely unable to remove the portion of the bandaid that was on the actual wound. I tried soaking my thumb in a cup of warm water for about half an hour (seriously) and it still wouldn't come off. It was too painful for me to pull it off and I didn't really want to start it leaking again.

Yes, I am the biggest wimp ever.

So I went to a clinic today to say, basically, "What the hell should I do with this thing?" In the meantime, I had cut away all of the old bandaid that I could, and put a new one on top of it.

It turns out it is important not to let a bandaid become a permanent part of your body (who knew) so the doctor took it off (almost painlessly somehow, though it did reopen the wound), had me soak my thumb for 10 minutes in lidocaine, and then had a nurse clean it up and dress it with some neosporin and a new bandage.

I feel I now know the real point of neosporin - to keep your bandaid from sticking. Duh.

3 comments:

Sally said...

I greatly appreciate the non-use of certain words in this blog post. But....ack! She said "drip" and "mess"!

I still get a icky, shivery feeling when I remember my mom cutting off part of her finger (it was on the side, I believe, not the thumb) with a kitchen knife. That was like...15 years ago, I think, but perhaps it has become a "permanent part" of my memory. ;)

susan said...

I can't believe you remember that, Sally! I was just talking to Dad about that very incident tonight because he had burned his finger.

Tam said...

I greatly appreciate the non-use of certain words in this blog post.

It was intentional!