I cut out a chunk of my thumb on pad oposite of the finger nail. the cut is about 1/8ths inch deep and bit more than half the size of dime in diameter. the cut happened 48 hours ago and i have been changing the bandage daily with neosporin added. should i

First : First things first, have you had a tetanus shot in the last 10 years? If not, you really need one. Thank goodness you had a superficial cut. You may need to use non-stick bandage to avoid ripping the top off of the cut. Sometimes, if the bandage is adherent, soaking it can help to remove the bandage without pulling off whatever scab has formed. If the area becomes red, hot, swollen, or has red streaks, purulent drainage or you develop fever, then it has become infected. Infections on fingers and hands can be really problematic. If there is any sign of infection, you need to get medical care asap.

If : If it's just skin, then it will heal. It will take about a month. You can use petroleum jelly gauze to make it easier to change dressings. The wound can get wet in the shower. Keep your thumb moving. Infection is very, very unlikely, but if you're not sure, then get checked. Good luck.

How : How do you take care of an amputated finger? A lot depends upon how much you lose. In adults amputations of the very tip of the finger without bone involvement are managed with dressing changes. The skin heals. Sometimes with a slight defect but your own skin is better than any type of skin graft. If this is what you have done then the wound will likely heal with dressing changes. If it keeps on bleeding you can apply a clean dressing. After you clean or soak the fingertip in a little hydrogen peroxide mixed with water, apply some antibiotic and a non constrictive dressing with a little pressure and leave it be for a few days. Whem a few days go by, gently soak the dressing off without pulling on it and starting the bleeding again, repeat the process everyday until healed....But as noted you can wait a few days at first as long as it is clean and the dressing not constricting. If bone is involved this all changes. If you are not sure bone is involved, see someone and get an x-ray. If the bone is involved it gets a little more complicated depending upon the amount of bone and to what extent the nail is involved and the direction or obliquity of the cut. It can be managed with dressing changes, with a skin flap, with further debridement; the permutations depending upon the conditions of the injury are considerable. Beyond the distal or what some call the first joint, treatment may involve the former methods, or may involve replantation. But health issues, method of injury, time frame, all comes into play. The best way to preserve an amputated part for possible reattachment is to place it in clean moist gauze, put the gauze in a plastic bag put the first plastic bag in another bag with crushed ice. It is important not to immerse the part in water, not to let the part contact the ice directly and as stated transport the part with the injured. Clean the wound gently on the person and cover with a clean moist sterile gauze as well. If bleeding is severe apply constant pressure, do not keep lifting up the gauze to see if it stops. A tourniquet can be used for severe arterial bleeding as well but be careful to note how long the tourniquet has been up and be sure to let it down to reestablish circulation briefly if the extremity becomes painful or numb above the wound. Do not try to cut or tie off blood vessels in area that needs to be ready for receiving the amputated part (unless you have a surgeons knowledge of anatomy) ...Even then be careful as an injury to a recipient site can doom a replant to failure many times parts of finger are not suitable for reattachment despite what we are led to believe from well-publicized stories. Multiple the factors i list above ten fold and you may get a sense of what the surgeon needs to consider before embarking on that journey... Smoking, avulsion injury, blunt injury, diabetes, age are just some of the confounding factors.