Blood blister! what can I do?

[Vevy]

3 weeks ago I got this blood blister on fingertip of the index of my fretting hand, now it's 3 weeks that I don't play my bass becasue I don't know what to do with that blister! For the frist 4-5 days it was hurting, now is two weeks that the pain it's completely gone, is not inflated at all, is like a very dark blood spot underneath the skin. It appears exactly like this Link Removed

I have avoided to play because I don't know If I can or if is better to wait that it's all gone..as I tell you before there is no pain anymore, there is only this damned dark spot! What to do?
I can't wait to play again!

 

[Major Softie]

It is now basically a scab under the skin. You will wear your way down to it eventually.

 

[Vevy]

what do you mean with "You will wear your way down to it eventually" ? sorry but I'm not english and I don't understand this last part

 

[dropbass]

Your fine just play normally now its not hurting. It will go away it will push it self out.. whats bad is when you get one during a ton of shows and bleed all over your bass . Ok at metal show not so cool at blues gig...

 

[svlilioukalani]

Keep on playing. And this is comming from a working ER RN.

 

[frankieC]

what do you mean with "You will wear your way down to it eventually" ? sorry but I'm not english and I don't understand this last part

Just go back to your normal playing. you will eventually wear through the darkened skin, and your finger will go back to normal.
I work in the construction trade, and I get them fairly often. It's just blood stuck between the layers of your skin.
The hurt for a few days...

I usually gently poke them with a clean pin, let the collected blood out, and it's over. The "hurt" goes away, and eventually so will the color.

 

[Vevy]

so you guys tell that I can keep on playing anyway? that's a great thing to hear! well, then I start again to play by this afternoon, and will see how the blister "behaves" the next days...
Thanks a lot

 

[PimasterPearson]

Call it a beauty mark.

 

[Temezki]

I'm a metalworker working with sheet metal. I used to get things like that when part of my gloves and skin got caught under the metal. They are very painful for a few days and my blisters have gone in about 1 week. Two of my blisters have stayed for 3 months, they are just two hard black things on my skin. Blood blister are weird.

 

[Slough Feg Bass]

that usually happens to me when I have not practiced my upright bass and then suddenly have a 3 hour gig with it.
I wait until late at night, poke it with a sterilized needle, drain it, then go to sleep.
by the time you wake up it will be solid.

 

[SeattleSunn]

I play hard and get a lot of blisters. If you are able to not play on it for a while, the liquid will dry out and it will form a callus, it will still have the dried blood in it and it will be a blood callus. A badge of honor. It will eventualy work its way up. Not a big deal.

 

[Feral Feline]

If you get another blister Check out the DB forums, particularly rockabilly/bluegrass slappers tend to get blisters and know how to deal with them. Sports tape, moleskin and other madness...

Best to leave 'em and let the body reabsorb the fluid. An alternative to bursting blisters is to soak the blister in an epsom salt solution (1/8 cup salt to 1/2 gallon of water). The homeostasis process reduces swelling and therefore pain as well as reducing chance of infection.

If you prefer to pop 'em, poke that sterilised needle in from the side close to the edge of the blister. After you've drained it, put an essential oil on it, many oils are both analgesic as well as antibacterial – Lavender, Melaleuca, Myrrh, Basil, Bay Laurel, Clove, Eucalyptus, Marjoram and several others; figure out which one you like for yourself, but personally I prefer peppermint.
Otherwise, a dab of Mercurochrome will do.

Most of all, keep it clean. Wash your hands before popping it. Getting an infection is worse and may keep you from playing longer than having a blister will. I see online guides suggesting to puncture the blister several times. In my experience you only need one hole and having only one hole reduces vectors of infection.

 

[Vevy]

I tried to pop it with a needle, but I don't feel like do it :S
I'm already using tea tree essential oil, I'll try to soak the blister into water & salt too. For now I'm avoiding to press the strings directly with the blister.. let's see how it goes

 

[rojo412]

I've gotten many in my life, constantly getting pinched with stuff at work all the time.

I pop them immediately and make sure to keep the wound sterile. Alcohol, antibiotic ointment, and a bandage.
They go away within a few days.

If you let them "heal", a chunk of dried blood ends up under your skin and you will eventually have to get rid of it somehow. Cutting into it and digging out the dried blood works, but is way more painful than lancing it immediately.

*** Take this advice at your own risk, I'm not a doctor. ***

FUNNY-GROSS STORY:
I once smashed my pinky at work. There was bleeding under my nail. I didn't drain it immediately, so by the end of the week, the nail turned black. I eventually had to scrape out all of the dried blood from under the nail, it wasn't "healing" at all.
But when it first turned black, the rest of my bandmates colored their pinky nails black for a gig, for solidarity.

 

[Fergie Fulton]

Blood blisters on the fingertips need to be lanced to relieve the pressure. Heat a pin/needle under a flame (lighter will do) then lance the blister and squeeze the blood out, you may have to do this a few times if the blister has pockets.
You can use an ice cube to free the area, just wrap it in a cloth, do not put the ice direct to the skin.

All that has happened is you have trapped the skin either in compression or tension an the impact has not broken the skin. Blood and fluids fill up the void and you feel the pressure of this.
Our hands's, and in particular out fingertips, are full on nerve endings, so it feels worse that other parts of the body because they are more aware of the damage. We are more aware of it because of the extended use we have for our hands in life, we take for granted our hands, but when constant pain in doing routine tasks is there we are constantly reminded of our little injury.

The same applies to the fingernail, if injured the best way to relive it is 'drill out the nail' to relieve the pressure.
Again there are many ways to do it, yes it hurts, but once done you not only relieve the pressure and the pain, you also stand a better chance of saving the nail.

Again heat up a sharp lance (fine drill bit, point of a knife or stiletto)and slow rotate it back and forth making a hole in the nail till you relieve the pressure.
Again you can use ice as before to freeze the injury.
But now you can rest the fingertip on the ice to keep it cold, so relieve the pain as you drill.
Do not use a power tool as you may not control the depth and do more damage. Be aware that the blood will come out is a spurt as it is under pressure, it can easily hit your face in get in your eyes.

In both cases bathe with antiseptic, keep them clean. One the hand or finger a small dressing can be used when at work, but remove when at home. On the nail just use some super glue over the hole and let the hole grow out.

Use care, caution and your own sense of pain in these matters and if you feel the need see a doctor or medical professional.

 

[amimbari]

I hate them things but have had them so many times I never even think about it anymore. I played a show in the semi-cold 2 weeks ago, and suffered yep. Here is a pic of 2 days after:

and here is one taken about 2 weeks later ( today )

.
Almost ready to do it all over again ( I hope not ...lol )

 

[Vevy]

It is now basically a scab under the skin. You will wear your way down to it eventually.

Update! I got no pain playing on this blood blister, that was actually a scab, because playing the surface layer of the callus-skin has been "scretched" by the strings and 2 days ago after playing I noticed that the dark spot was anymore on my fingertip

Thank you again guys