Dangerous Jewelry

Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show host, almost lost his finger in a freak accident. He tripped on a rug in his kitchen, caught his ring on the counter as he went down, and severely damaged his finger. He thought he had just broken it, but he ended up being in surgery for six hours and then in an Intensive Care Unit for ten days. If the surgery hadn’t worked, he would have lost the finger.

It’s common knowledge that throw rugs can be dangerous, but I never expected a wedding ring to be a problem. Have you ever had an injury from wearing jewelry?


 

One of the most devastating finger injuries is the ring avulsion injury (1). This injury occurs when someone catches a ring on moving machinery or on a projection while descending unexpectedly or rapidly (jumping). Examples are jumping off a loaded truck or falling while going down a ladder, etc. Not only does the ring pull the skin off circumferentially but it also usually strips away the nerves, tendons, and bone as well. Replantation is often not possible because of the extensive soft tissue damage, requiring a more proximal amputation.

Suggesting to your patients in manual work environments that they not wear a ring while working can remove the risk of this injury and save a finger.

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8 Responses to Dangerous Jewelry

  1. Mike says:

    I stopped wearing my wedding ring in the mid 1970s when I was on the submarine. Access between levels was via ladders or or steep stairs (also called ladders on board ship) with more than enough opportunities to catch a ring on.

    Later, I had gained weight so the ring never fit and I’ve never been much for jewelry, so the ring still sits in Karen’s jewelry box.

    • Jean says:

      It was smart to take it off and put it in a safe place. I essentially did the same thing a couple of years after I was married. I didn’t want to lose it when I took it off to do something.

  2. Rummuser says:

    No, but I don’t wear jewelry anyway. I do wear my rudraksha or crystal mala when I am on a period of observance, but those cannot be counted as jewelry.

  3. tammy j says:

    i don’t wear jewelry anymore. the only jewelry i ever wore anyway were little diamond earrings and my wedding band.
    luckily never had any close calls that i know of.
    i like the clean simplicity of wearing nothing. well. not nothing! LOL.
    no jewelry. 🙂
    i thought it was lovely the way he paid such appreciation to the nurses who took care of him… and his doctors! especially doctor choo!

  4. Cathy in NZ says:

    my other in the 1960s had her wedding ripped off her finger…we were getting off the bus in Hobson Street – out the back door when she screamed, the ring disappeared who knows where and blood streamed from that finger…

    what she caught it on was a mystery

    where it got to an even bigger mystery, not inside bus or outside…was the ring to be found!

    the bus company paid for a new wedding band

    • Jean says:

      It must have been traumatic at the time, but it’s better to lose the ring than the finger. I’m glad the bus company paid for the new wedding band.

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