This post is a bit delayed and outdated, but whatev. I smashed my thumb at work about two weeks ago. The exterior bar of the office door sometimes detaches on the right side when I pull to shut the door, causing the bar to fall and swing from the side still attached. That day I needed to make a quick trip to the restroom before I went downtown to take care of some of my daily duties. Instead of using my key to shut the office door behind me like a smart person, I just pulled it shut like the lazy woman I am. Disastrous results.
Some of the flesh pinched off and seeped blood, but I could feel the inevitable swelling become the bigger problem. I continued to the restroom (when you gotta go, you gotta go) and then stayed to run my phalange under the cold running water while I thought of my next move. I finally went over to the coffee shop next door to ask for ice. As the guy handed me some, he said "That looks really bad." Yeah, thanks.
It swelled so much I couldn't bend it because the skin stetched too tight. It doesn't look too bad in this picture. I'd been icing it a while and the swelling had reduced a lot. I ended up with bruising on the back of the thumb all the way down to the base of the finger. The bar hit just above the knuckle and below the nailbed, so the nail thankfully did not turn black though one little part has discoloring. I hope it doesn't grow in weird later.
I contrived this to keep my thumb under ice to free up my other hand and fingers to get work done.
It worked pretty well, actually.
It was either this or I had no use of either hand as I held ice against the thumb.
Couple things I've observed after the incident:
1. Not having the use of one opposable thumb made me feel half-prosimian (primates without an opposable thumb, like the lemur). I can report from empirical knowledge that the opposable thumb is indeed an evolutionary advantage making grasping, typing, and answering a phone vastly easier.
2. Depsite the convienience of opposability, a primate may still function without it. It was interesting to observe how my other fingers took on the work of my thumb, especially when typing.
My thumb is almost fully recovered now. It was touch-and-go a couple of days, but I was able to save the whole hand (name that movie!). I've accidently bumped the thumb a few times and that makes it hurt like the dickens all over again. It's still a bit bruised and I have a bump of calcium deposit at the point of impact, but it could be worse and overall I'm pleased with my body's ability to heal itself.
