

To just superglue my own wound and get on with my day?

(55 Posts)
Dannilion Mon 04-Feb-13 13:33:36

I was the clumsiest person in England until I got PG, now I'm probably the clumsiest person in the world!

This morning I sliced about an inch into my middle finger with an incredibly sharp bread knife , downwards..sort of following the nail if that makes sense. in my defence the knife was brand new and I'm used to cutting things with the equivalent of a butter knife! Anyways the bleeding stopped after about an hour and I've given it a lovely dettol clean. It's a teensy bit flappy and I think it could benefit from being glued together but cannot bear the thought of 6 hours in a&e.

DP thinks I should just superglue it together and dress it myself as I'm a nurse. But it's not really the same, I'm a MH nurse so rarely come across bread knife injuries!

So yeah...WWYD?

degutastic Mon 04-Feb-13 13:36:21

I would superglue it myself and I'm not even a nurse grin But then, I'm not the world's most responsible degu wink

CailinDana Mon 04-Feb-13 13:38:01

Yeah why not? It's easy to do and will save you a lot of hassle.

HoneyDragon Mon 04-Feb-13 13:40:00

First time I sliced my finger on a slicer I waited aaaages in A&E for glue.

Second time, I got my boss to do it with superglue.
But then I'm not a terribly responsible Dragon wink

Crawling Mon 04-Feb-13 13:41:55

Surely its not normal superglue they use is it? <stupid person here>

HoHoHoNoYouDont Mon 04-Feb-13 13:41:59

I'm very squeamish

<passes out>

CailinDana Mon 04-Feb-13 13:42:51

Superglue was originally developed as a glue for skin Crawling. It was only later that it was used for other things.

AngelWreakinHavoc Mon 04-Feb-13 13:43:16

My dp always super glues himself! Oh he has superglued the cat a couple of times too.

Crawling Mon 04-Feb-13 13:44:09

ah I see well go ahead and glue it together then.

CailinDana Mon 04-Feb-13 13:44:11

My DH has a hobby that involves a lot of superglue - he spends whole evenings picking the glue off his fingers, drives me bonkers.

HoHoHoNoYouDont Mon 04-Feb-13 13:44:19

So you actually use the superglue you can buy in the shops? Not a special medical one?

<would never make it as a nurse>

throckenholt Mon 04-Feb-13 13:46:58

Our puppy knicked a bottle of superglue from the workshop (DH not paying attention - slapped wrist !) the other day. Luckily she didn't chew through it (found it in the garden).

She did chew through a bottle of printer ink that we didn't know we had (luckily she took it to her bed and not all over the floor - huge stains).

OP - if you know how and you have the right stuff, then I would do it. Hope it doesn't hurt too much.

TuftyFinch Mon 04-Feb-13 13:47:46

Superglue it. Or have you got steri strips? DH does it all the time too. I've never done it because I too am worried it's not the correct glue, is it really the same? There must be a 'proper' medical one?

Dannilion Mon 04-Feb-13 13:47:49

Haha I just thought it was something my grandad did which made me wonder if it was still common practise and people weren't dying from it. As it is and they aren't I'll go and dig it out. Thanks ladies! smile

Dannilion Mon 04-Feb-13 13:50:20

Yeah the medical stuff is different to the DIY stuff, in that the DIY stuff has the potential to release a little bit of formaldehyde or something. But I don't really plan on sniffing it for ages.. Plus the medical stuff is like £50 for 2g, it's ridiculous.

oldraver Mon 04-Feb-13 13:54:03

I was going to say get some New Skin, not sure how well it would work on a deep cut.

My DH used to get generic super glue by the bucket load 500ml bottles. I thought it a good idea to glue DS'sd Lego...not only did it melt the Lego I had to stop due to the fumes making me lightheaded

Happykampers Mon 04-Feb-13 14:04:35

Go Ahead and use the superglue.
I have used it successfully numerous times on various cuts rather than a visit to A&E.

one of super-glues first uses was on the battlefields of Vietnam, glueing gunshot and shrapnel wounds closed so as to keep soldiers alive long enough to get them to hospitals.

I superglued DH's nose once.....a cut on the bridge, not his nostrils or anything.

My ear lobe split....(heavy ear-rings when I was a youth) and I tried super glueing it back together. Didnt work and just irritated my ear and made it red and pussey!

Give it a go though, I think that is was it was originally used for smile

CailinDana Mon 04-Feb-13 14:09:32

Yeah the medical one is less solventy but it's pretty much the same stuff. Won't make a difference on a small cut on your finger. We're a DIY injury repair household here! I'm always shocked at the minor injuries people go to A and E for - we just glue ourselves back together smile Probably comes from actually having to pay for medical treatment in Ireland -makes you resourceful.

no need for glue grin
just clean it, steristrips and a nice thick bandage with some paracetamol will sort it out
i do it to myself, dh and the kids all the time
bad bad nurse grin

OutragedFromLeeds Mon 04-Feb-13 14:13:43

shock at all the people glueing themselves back together!!!

zzzzz Mon 04-Feb-13 14:15:23

I'd DIY it but I'm lazy and hate A&E

So the medical stuff is exepensive eh. Well not only are you saving yourselftime but you are saving the nhs money! Win win. grin

StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes Mon 04-Feb-13 14:25:21

Angel my DH once superglued himself to the cat... that was fun not

Lonecatwithkitten Mon 04-Feb-13 14:26:22

The medical stuff doesn't have formaldehyde in it Dannilon is correct. However, as the last 10 tubes I bought were £6 each for a 2g tube it's not gold dust. The Formaldehyde pickles your skin and is a potential carcinogenic so not so good.
Steristrips scare less and as it's stop bleeding I would go for them.
Superglue is crap on ears due to the profuse bloods supply it can't get purchase to adhere properly.

NotSoNervous Mon 04-Feb-13 14:26:56

Go to your GP don't they do things like that there

sparklyjumper Mon 04-Feb-13 14:30:25

Why not go to your pharmacist they will dress it for you.

VivaLeBeaver Mon 04-Feb-13 14:31:31

I would go for steristrips from the chemist, some gauze and a load of micropore tape. Don't unbandage it for ages <squeamish>

NaturalBaby Mon 04-Feb-13 14:31:59

Ew to pickled skin.
I took my newborn with me when my finger needed supergluing - we were out quite quick! I had steristrips but they were too think and just got soaked in blood then fell off.

cumfy Mon 04-Feb-13 14:34:28

Give it a go though

Yeah go on.

Those "medics" with their "Medical Degrees", hospitals, and medical grade products, it's all a

Reaa Mon 04-Feb-13 14:39:18

How about getting the steri strip things?

andubelievedthat Mon 04-Feb-13 14:40:48

superglue for me ! and my fella says at work its often used , boss stops wages for time away at hosp/piss taken re any injury where an ambulance is not required /macho enviroment>yes it was 1st developed for warfare use >if i may ask?>stepawayfromtheEcclesCakes>how and why? was cat ok ?

feministefatale Mon 04-Feb-13 14:41:18

Proper super glue can cause burns. I'd use it if I was stuck in a trench but not if I was home and had access to a docto's office.

StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes Mon 04-Feb-13 14:48:50

andubelieve it was an accident of course, he was glueing a chip from a vase back on and put the tube down, cat came up for a nosey stood on the tube DH grabbed it to move it away but got his hand covered and the rest is history. Yes the cat was fine he held her tight to stop her from pulling fur out and I was quick to the rescue with the nail scissors to free them both. he did look attractive with a clump of cat fur on his fingers grin sounds much more dramatic than it actually was.

hopenglory Mon 04-Feb-13 14:49:41

I would go with the superglue option. Not saying that anybody else should, but I would

lashingsofbingeinghere Mon 04-Feb-13 15:54:17

I had a very similar injury once from cutting up a huge cabbage.

I just cleaned the wound then pressed the flap of skin/flesh back over the wound and bound it very tightly (but not so finger went blue grin) then left it several days.

I have a faint v-shaped scar now - the skin seemed to knit back together very neatly without glue, stitches, steri strips or anything else. HTH.

thebitchdoctor Mon 04-Feb-13 16:01:23

Get some steristrips and a bandage from the chemist for crying out loud!

cumfy Tue 12-Feb-13 14:34:16

Did you glue it ?
How's it healing ?

WhatALark Tue 12-Feb-13 14:42:03


I thought the thread title was metaphorical. Really, you can super-glue yourself back together?

Every day is a school day on MN.

Jenny70 Tue 12-Feb-13 16:29:00

My concern is not for the wound, but for the possibility of supergluing yourself to something else...<voice of experience>

YulaBaker Tue 12-Feb-13 17:00:16

Why the actual fuck would someone glue lego? confused

Twattybollocks Tue 12-Feb-13 17:07:34

I would superglue it. I swear by the stuff, have a tube in the first aid kit and one in the horses first aid kit too!

DontEvenThinkAboutIt Tue 12-Feb-13 17:33:58

I would have thought that a bandage would do the job ok.

BalloonSlayer Tue 12-Feb-13 18:05:34

Why the actual fuck would someone glue lego?

To stop the floods of tears and stress when your DC tries to play with his mega-expensive x-wing fighter lego models and they come apart and no one can remember how they go back together, cue further hysteria, all performed to the background song of [parents only] "It's a model. Not a toy. "

Wow, I had no idea you could superglue cuts closed. I need to know more: Can I use any old cheapie superglue or will my pharmacist sell me the proper stuff? Do I hold the edges together and run the glue along the top of the cut, or literally glue the open edges together like with a broken toy? Does it sting like hell, and for how long?

IrrelevantElephant Tue 12-Feb-13 18:18:40

I had a top that was showing a bit too much side boob, so I superglued the top to my skin. IT BURNT LIKE FUCK. Actually scarred my skin. Surely super glue isn't the same as medical glue? I'd go A&E or get steristrips personally.

Dannilion Tue 12-Feb-13 18:42:47

Irrelevant - Haha, that sounds like something I'd do in a rush on my way out the door! Hope it healed ok.

Thanks for the advice ladies but as you can see I posted this 8 days ago and had already glued it. It's healed really well by the way smile

PipkinsPal Tue 12-Feb-13 18:50:24

After spending 4 hours in A&E when I cut my thumb on a corned beef tin, they dressed it with steri-strips. (I knew at the time I should have chosen to wait for the sausages to defrost!) I now have steri-strips in my first aid box and I'm damned careful with corned beef tins.

Did you use normal glue Dannilion? How did you do it?

PenguinBear Tue 12-Feb-13 19:34:28

I am so shocked that anyone thinks it is okay to tell someone to use superglue to mend a wound. hmm
Medical superglue yes, but the normal stuff no way.

I've always come to MN for sensible advice and have recommended this site to friends. Reading this thread had made me worried that A) anyone could dish out this advice and B) anyone could follow it. There are some vulnerable and fragile people on MN who could follow this advice and it not be a good outcome.

It's like saying its okay to take ecstasy as someone else has ad survived/ got high. Doesn't mean everyone will react the same and no-one should use superglue on a cut! sad

Dannilion Wed 13-Feb-13 09:03:09

Bit of an over-reaction in my opinion there penguin. Comparing superglue to an illegal drug that has been proven to kill or permanently damage hundreds of people hmm As others have said, it was initially designed for this purpose, and I don't really see the relevant danger in emotional fragile people, unless you mean self harmers gluing theirselves instead of visiting a&e. But my situation is clearly not that, and as a HCP I consider myself informed enough to determine whether a wound is deep enough to require stitches or not.

Sorry for the waffle but your excessive shock and concern over something so trivial on the Internet is more concerning than a mentally stable adult choosing to glue a small cut together.

And to the person that asked (sorry, it's on a different page now so I can't scroll back for your username) I just cleaned and dried the wound, squeezed a tiny bit of glue onto it, let it dry and then covered it. I changed the cover morning and night for the next 48 hours and viola, it has totally healed and I doubt I'll even be left with a scar. Obviously there's a tiny chance I could have had an unpleasant reaction to the glue, but I didn't.

PointeShoes Wed 13-Feb-13 09:12:38

Hmmm super glue hey. . . When I cut the back of my heals, (new shoes) I tried plasters and gel things but nothing worked until I found a type of glue that's meant to be put on and it drys just like super glue. Got it from boots but can't remember what it's called, was good though. Don't think I'd use normal superglue, just in case it burns or something scary

YulaBaker Wed 13-Feb-13 12:50:20

Nope, is for taking apart and making into lots of things.

It was me who asked for the How To. Thanks, I think I might ask our pharmacist for some to keep in our first aid box, although on the occasions I have got normal superglue on my skin the first I have known about it is when I realise I'm stuck to whatever I've been gluing blush

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