Can fingers be reattached?

[Travis Conner]

Did some research on what to do if you end up losing a finger. Sounds like when the body part is contaminated it can't be re attached. I wonder if saw dust counts as contamination.

[Ole Anderson]

Did some research on what to do if you end up losing a finger. Sounds like when the body part is contaminated it can't be re attached. I wonder if saw dust counts as contamination.

Asking for a friend?

[Frank Pratt]

They reattach severed digits all the time, so they must have a way to clean up the old part before reinstalling it. Probably an automotive parts washer or maybe a sandblaster.

[Ron Selzer]

Have read articles in the past that state only for non smokers. Smokers the blood circulation is bad enough that gangrene sets in an they lose the fingers.

[mike stenson]

It'll also depend on the nature of the injury. Fingers that are crushed off, for instance, are gone.

[Travis Conner]

They reattach severed digits all the time, so they must have a way to clean up the old part before reinstalling it. Probably an automotive parts washer or maybe a sandblaster.

I knew they had a secret up their sleeve.

[Andy D Jones]

Generally, fingers lost to a jointer cannot be reattached...

-- Andy - Arlington TX

[Richard Coers]

I sawed 3/4 of the way through my middle finger on my left hand. The emergency surgeon just toe-nailed it back on with some stainless steel pins. and sewed me up. Went in for the first week followup. He looked at it and said something about it being crooked and reached over and bent it straight. I nearly passed out, 2nd week followup, he did the same damned thing. After I felt good enough to walk, i told my wife to take me straight to our family doctor. I told him to refer me to an GOOD hand surgeon. The second surgery was to square off the bone and get rid of that 1/8" kerf in the bone. I woke up from surgery with a half cast on my arm and a splint running up under the finger to immobilize it. That was in 1984. I did loose a joint and that finger is about 1/4" shorter than what I started with, but it has stopped predicting weather and being sensitive to cold. So not a complete amputation, but awfully darned close.

[Brad Shipton]

I think is one of those questions where the answer is, It depends. Sometimes yes, others, no. Best have some good rules around the big machines.

[Joe Jensen]

Yes, a friend cut 3 fingers off like 40 years ago when he was 14. They reattached them and he went on to play div 2 college basketball. They don't have perfect function but you would not know it by observing him live his life.

[richard poitras]

Instead of if reading up on if it can be attached why not read up on shop safety and how to prevent injury’s ... ?

[Robert Hayward]

I am living proof a finger, thumb in my case, can be reattached. At 14 years old a kickback using a dull wobble dado blade pulled my right hand into the blade. Took off my right thumb at the point it meets the hand. All but the skin on the back of the hand. Small town in Michigan with a really small hospital and a doctor that spent several years on a hospital ship in the pacific during WW2. He had experience doing this sort of repair. I lost movement of the upper knuckle but I have lived my life with both thumbs. Also gained a lot of knowledge about kickbacks and how to avoid them.

[Bill Dufour]

Do the reasearch before hand. Ask the family doctor where he would go for a finger reattchment. what hospital and which doctor. Do not pack in ice. it will get frostbite. for lost teeth milk is reccomended since it is cold and sterile. I assume milk would be good for a lost finger as well. Best is to drop it into sealed carton. Do not add salt! If it a long trip pack the milk in ice on the outside. Do not let the liquid freeze and cause frostbite.
Also ask about slivers in the eye best doctors etc. Same for hair being ripped off or foot/ toes crushed
Bill D.

[johnny means]

I can't count on all my fingers and toes the number of guys I know who have had fingers pulled out of sawdust and reattached. It's almost as if it's a prerequisite to shop management positions.

[mike stenson]

I can't count on all my fingers and toes the number of guys I know who have had fingers pulled out of sawdust and reattached. It's almost as if it's a prerequisite to shop management positions.

Ok, that made me sort of laugh... Add to that the number of people I know who have fingers that are 1/8" narrower than they were once.