How to Dress a Shop Wound

Accidentally slice your hand open while working on an instructables project? No worries, here's an other instructable to patch you back up.

This is an account of my road to recovery after cutting myself while working on my victorian lamp instructable.

Photographs by Kiki Brown

Believe it or not, the exacto knife isn't how I injured myself.

My method of choice was somehow drilling into my thumb from 8 inches away.

Being surprised after injuring one's self is a normal reaction. Just don't lose it too much.

Hold a bandage against the wound and apply pressure until the bleeding stops.

Find the meager supply of first aid that has been pillaged over the years by other college students.

Find a friend that doesn't mind inflicting even more pain on you to pour hydrogen peroxide on the wound.

See how long the wait at the emergency room is.

Mine would have been four hours, so I decided to tough it out on my own.

Neosporin
Advil
Butterfly bandages
Large bandages
Gauze

and a massive gash.

Pull the wound closed with as many butterfly stitches as needed.

To stave off infection, apply a generous amount of neosporin.

Wrap gauze around the wound.

Wrap the stretchy tape around the gauze to keep it in place.

In a few minutes the throbbing may set in, and then you will have wished that you would have taken painkillers fifteen minutes sooner.

Celebrate being in one piece again by getting mad at the thing that put you in this situation in the first place.