Brutal Magnet Removal

edited May 2017 in Procedures
So for a little bit of background, last August/September I implanted 3 FDA2T-coated magnets in my right middle, ring, and pinkie fingers, the last of which I posted a video of. However, recently the one in my middle finger lost sensation, and formed a small bump that appeared to have something grey-ish green under it. Although it was not causing discomfort, I decided to remove it. Based on a recent post, I speculated that the bump was likely scar tissue, and was therefore aware that I might have a difficult time. Unfortunately, due to life things (ie, this will be the last time within the next several months that I can have an injured hand), I did not have time to procure proper supplies (ie, a scalpel), and therefore resorted to sharpening and sterilizing an x-acto blade. I put some isopropyl in the freezer, wiped everything down with clorhex, and eventually proceeded. I tourniquetted the finger in question with a hairband and stuck it in the cold rubbing alcohol as I had done when inserting the magnet. However, I may have overdone it this time due to nerves. Once my finger was numb, I sliced into the lump, finding a mess of grey stuff and no clear indication of the magnet's whereabouts. I subsequently had to expand the incision several times and dug around for quite some time (10-ish minutes), alternating between the xacto knife and tweezers. The magnetic spheres I was attempting to use to pull out the magnet proved useless, and all I'd gotten out were some odd bits of grey stuff. By this time, I was somewhat concerned about how long my finger had been without blood, and was shaking from adrenaline and nervousness. Eventually, however, the (extremely corroded) magnet popped out. Although all the corroded material had not been removed by any means, I decided to cut my losses and wrap things up (although I took a few photos, which will follow). I bandaged the finger, cut off the tourniquet, and set about typing this. However, even after checking to ensure the bandage is not too tight, the last third of my finger is slightly tingly and the wound has yet to become painful. I suspect that frostbite or damage from extended lack of blood flow is possible, however, since the rest of the finger seems to be fine, I don't think it's anything too severe. This has been quite an adventure, and I hope I may be of some use as the example in what not to do.
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  • Unfortunately, the links I attempted to put in the above were acting weird so I was unable to link the posts to which I was referring, and I can't get the pictures to post, so that will be all for the moment.
  • edited May 2017
    .o.

    I Don't know enough about nerve structure to comment on the numbness... But definitely good to get that out of your body. >~<

    Please post pucs soon! :D
  • The problem with hairbands is they are so thin. If applied forcefully enough to act as a tourniquet they can actually cause nerve damage. That said, give it a day and it'll be fine. If you're going to use a hairband specifically look for silicone ones. The rubbery colorful ones that teenage girls use.

    Yeah, I've done a lot of procedures and removals can be gnarly. Rich Lee was probably the first guy using big magnets to pull them. I think we can figure out a better way.
  • I put together a google doc with the pictures:
    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cWFGHK5AVK-LNTZcGyBxvllfxLfDFPfCUhuckY3Aij4/edit?usp=sharing

    The numbness has mostly gone away now so it should be fine as far as that's concerned
  • That's a rejection all right. ~3~ well done.

    And definitely make sure that you have all of the debris that you can get out, out. You don't want to cut the huge chunk out just to have to cut it all open again to find out there's a tiny chunk left. X_x
  • Update: I got everything I could, but there's some that was basically dissolved/powdered that I couldn't do much about. (But it wasn't bothering me before, so...) Anyhow, I added some pictures to the google doc from the past few days. It hasn't scabbed over yet and is still quite red/swollen, but isn't painful or showing other signs of infection (the light-colored stuff visible in the pictures is dead skin), so I think it will heal up alright.
  • Just for reference next time, if you can use saline solution to wash the wound out that would be ideal. You can buy it in a can that can spray. :D

    Contact lens fluid works too. ^^


    Nice nice
  • There's also a product called shur Clens. It does a pretty good job getting debris out of wounds.
  • I have been washing it with saline, but it's not seemed to do much
  • I've had a similar experience with the 2T but it was a bad coating application! I have not had 2T implanted for a over a year and no noticeable damage to the tissue or magnet that I can see with scans.



    I'd love to ask what you did to rupture the coating in the end (it normally is fine till the coating pops and the metal gets inside of you)



    How long did you have the magnet in till you noticed some issues, and how long till you took it out?
  • I'm not sure why the coating came off so it may have had problems in the first place- I don't recall doing anything that would've broken it

    I noticed I'd lost sensation from the magnet around 8 months and took it out a few weeks after that
  • I lost most of my sensation a while ago, tried to take it out and couldn't find the magnet, after a couple of minutes I gave up since it was just a preemptive move in the first place. After reading this I'll have to try again...after finding something to numb the finger. Thanks for posting!
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