Friday, June 20, 2008

Non-Kitchen Injury

If you're squeamish, don't scroll down.

My husband and I were playing around 2 nights ago, and I grabbed a roll of shop towels and swung at him. He snapped out with his hand to block my swing, and hit my wrist. I didn't think anything of it, until about 2 minutes later, when I noticed my wrist was throbbing. I looked down, and saw what looked like a blue egg growing underneath the skin on my wrist.















I've always bruised easily, and it's gotten worse as I've gotten older. But to have a vein pop underneath my skin? I almost couldn't believe it, except for the fact that I was watching it happen.

So I iced it, wrapped it, and elevated it all night (ever tried to sleep with your arm above your head all night?). The next morning I was ok for a few hours, until I noticed the swelling getting worse - I couldn't get my ring off, and I was losing feeling in my fingers.

I was so useless! I couldn't type, couldn't even use a mouse. Lifting and moving boxes? Forget it. Paperwork? My handwriting was illegible. Inspection of assemblies on the production floor (I'm a Quality Assurance Manger)? How can you check if wiring and hardware are connected properly when you can't feel them?

I left work early, took three ibuprofen, and elevated once again. Pretty soon I could once again pick things up without dropping them.

Today it's ugly, almost uglier than the blue egg from 48 hours ago.















The dark red lines are from where I wrapped the gauze - the blood was trying to swell wherever it could, but since it was wrapped the first night, it chose the path of least resistance, between the layers of gauze.

Moral of my story? Don't try to smack your husband with a roll of towels, even if you are just playing.

8 comments:

Kitt said...

Holy cow! That would've sent me running to critical care. Hope it heals up quickly.

(I remember when my dad accidentally broke Mom's nose when they were horsing around, and she had a hard time convincing the folks at the ER that no, she was not a battered wife.)

Vicki said...

Hi Kitt -
It's not nearly as bad now, tho still ugly.
And your mom's story is the main reason I didn't go to the ER! :-)

Wandering Chopsticks said...

Ouch! That looks painful! The vein looks like it's about to pop.

I seem to bang myself up on a regular basis. Most recent accident was splashing boiling pho from the bowl onto my stomach. I gave myself second and third degree burns. :(

Vicki said...

Hi WC! Boiling liquid burns are the worst! I've got a scar on my foot from pasta water and one on my hand from instant ramen. The kitchen is a dangerous place.

The Little Kahuna said...

ouch! hope you're feeling better.

I'm generally covered in bruises from who knows what, but thankfully I've never had that happen before.

Vicki said...

Hi LK - The bruise is almost completely healed now, but I've got other bruises and scratches to make up for it :-)
Thanks for visiting!

melissa morrison said...

Thank you so much! I have been searching for pictures of what my wrist looks like. I unknowingly injured my left wrist and had the same "egg" afterward and now three days later it looks as if the vein burst and bleed out under the skin. still have the lump and red,blue, green,yellow bruising.I feel better now! Thank you again for sharing.

Vicki said...

Hi Melissa - Glad I could share some info. If yours is like mine was, it looks scary, but heals pretty quickly.