Superglue Rescue

This is not the first time I used this first aid technique which says more than some people would reveal about their clumsiness. Here I go again the suffering associated with another wound as trivial as the paper cut, steel splinter, the hang nail and the blood blister.

The fingernail fold back and rip into the nail bed is one of those nasty minor mishaps which robs the work day of splendor. Expletive! Expletive! Now this nail edge split will catch on everything which passes nearby repeating the original pain experience.

Relax. Let reason prevail. I know how to fix this problem. One drop of my old faithful Gorilla super glue and in five minutes the wound is sealed. The rest of the day proceeds painlessly. In a week or so the nail will grow out and I will clip off the end with the rip and the superglue.

I think it was in 1969 when I heard about my medical colleagues serving in the Vietnam combat theatre using isobutyl cyanoacrylate as a tissue adhesive in war surgery. It seemed a minor miracle that the fast drying polymer could hold together tissue which would otherwise be impossible to suture and helping to save life and limb. But it’s true and a long stretch in significance from the use to which I applied it in my minor wound today.

This has been a hard week struggling with an awkward project and I have managed to shave off the skin on the dorsal surface of my right index and middle finger dip joints as well. There are a thousand ways to get injured doing hot iron work yet the rewards of successful creation propel me onward. It’s a good day when all I need is superglue and ibuprofen to rescue me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isobutyl_cyanoacrylate

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2187/was-super-glue-invented-to-seal-battle-wounds-in-vietnam

http://www.persimmonforge.com/