Medical question... gray skin (stitches photo)

Josh got stitches for accidentally cutting himself with a hatchet. Here are the stitches:


One whole side of his thumb has no feeling anymore. It's starting to turn grayish and when he tried to ice it he said he couldn't feel the coldness of the ice.

Is this something that would be part of the healing process possibly or is this something he should seek medical attention for?

I would say it's worth a phonecall - yes.

Greyish could mean it's not getting any oxygen which can cause necrosis which you dooooon't want.

Yes, if it's grey I would wager a guess that it's not getting oxygen and/or enough blood supply - definitely not good.

Definitely call the doctor. The fact that the the whole side of the thumb is numb is a red flag to me. If the skin feels cold (when there's no ice on it) I'd even consider a trip to emergency.

Back to the ER!!

And keep us updated.

Oh man. Poor Josh. Vibes and prayers for his thumb. Has it been numb ever since the injury or is that new? There may be nerve damage from the injury but the grey skin sounds scary.

Matt says:

A couple of possibilities come to mind. The first is possible nerve damage, but given the delayed onset, I find that one unlikely.

The second is compartment syndrome. This is caused when pressure builds up within a compartment of the body due to swelling, bleeding or other fluid shift. Since the connective tissue that surrounds our various body compartments don't stretch the pressure builds up and circulation is impaired. This leads to bad things, namely tissues starved of oxygen (ischemia), dying (infarction) and breaking down (necrosis). If you haven't seen a Doctor yet, you should.

Compartment syndrome can be recognized by the 5 P's:
- Pallor (that's the gray colour thing)
- Pulselessness (only if the artery is effected, rare sign)
- Pain (usually out of proportion to the injury)
- Paresthesia (pins and needles, impaired sensation)
- Paralysis (numb, unable to move)

Your husband has at least two of those.

Go to the hospital. It's serious.

But don't call an Ambulance. Nothing can be done to fix it in the truck.

It kinda looks infected too.

I hope it feels better soon!!!!

Here's a more recent pic of his thumb. You can see where its turning gray and the gray color is a little darker than it was earlier. I'm going to call the doctor.

Yuck, that newer picture really shows the greying. Just Nilly's opinion here but I vote going to the hospital over calling the doc. It looks serious.

Keeping vibes for Josh and his thumb! Here's hoping it heals up!

Matt Says:
Actual professional opinion: Go to the hospital now. Don't risk losing the damned thumb. Depending on the amount of pressure in the compartment it may need to be cut open to relieve the pressure; this will need to be done in hospital.

ER. Now.

Yikes. Go to the hospital. That does not look good at all.

One more vote for the hospital!

I hope he and his thumb will be better soon!

He's on the phone arguing with his step dad about it, but he told me he wants to go to the ER so I'm getting dressed to go with him. Side note: I have to open tomorrow morning at 5:30 and we have 55 dogs boarding that I need to walk... Omg I'm going to be so tired.

His thumb feels hard in the gray spot though so its better to get it checked out.

hoping all is well Amber!!!

I had something similar after getting bitten in my index finger (several years ago). I waited. Stupid stupid stupid. I ended up going back to the same urgent care pretty much crawling in pain and having the weirdest most painful pins and needles feeling alternating with numbness.

My finger was saved (after being sliced open), but I have absolutely zero feeling from tip to knuckle. I have to be super careful as I've burned my self and done other stupid things to it since I don't feel it. And that sucks.

Keep us posted! That's definitely not something to mess with.

Oh glad hes going to the hospital. Keep us updated!!

I rarely go the doctor for anything.

I would go for that though! It just doesn't look right, glad he's going.