First M31 impant experience

edited May 2016 in Procedures
I had in implant done by @cassox and it went pretty well. Ill put in pictures later on, but this post is for newer members like myself who have never gotten an implant done before and wish to one, you'll have an idea of how it should go.

I had the implant done @cassox, if you wish to have him do one for you contact him, or contact me and I'll act as a liason for you.

I had my implant done at his personal lab, and it went great, he kept the procedure as sterile as possible to reduce any chance of infection. 

now the finger you put your magnet in depends on you, i went with the standard ring finger on my non-dominate hand, and had it placed on the "outer" edge, towards my pinky, this is a good spot because you won't have to worry about rubbing the incision against your finger. the only down side to this location that i can see if that you have to hold your arm in an awkward position for 15-20 mins.

to prep for the procedure you'll need to do a surgical scrub, which means scrubbing (with a bristle brush and a special soap) all the way up to your elbows for a full three minutes. including cleaning under the nails and around your nail beds.

the next part will be the your "operator" cleaning the operation site again, at this point, you should stop moving and touching everything, as you don't want to have to re-sterilze your hand. also, the "operator should be putting on his surgical gloves OVER his regular gloves and keep in mind, these aren't your regular vinyl or latex gloves, these should be Biogel sterile gloves, for those of you not in the medical field, these gloves are what surgeons use to keep sterile. 

now this whole sterilization procedure may seem like a bit of overkill, but ill tell you a little side story: last year i lost a fight with a deli slicer and i cut about a third of my thumb off (just missing the bone) i didn't get stitches, since there was nothing to really stitch back, but i did get a fw painful injections to stop the constant flow of blood out of my fingers and get it bandaged up, and the ER doctor wore surgical gloves while doing it. a few days later i went to my regular to get new bandages put on and the Dr. there wore surgical gloves also.

infection prevention is important, you don't want to go to the doctor explain WHY you have magnet a finger, and also deal with the associated pain, cost (doctor visits and perscription antibiotics pills) and annoyance of it. also it'll be hard to explain to your family, friends and coworkers why you look like you have gangrene on your finger.
 

next you'll get a torniquete that will be slid down to the base of your finger, and the the procedure begins. 


The incision is made and the "pocket" is created, don't be surprised if the person doing your implant takes the magnet back out and cuts deeper a few times, this is to make sure the pocket is deep enough so that when flexing your finger or grabbing stuff the pressures won't push the magnet back out, this is also important in case you accidentally bang it on something while healing (it happens, you don't realize how much you use this finger until you can't).

after the magnet is in you'll get sutured up, this the part where i felt something, not pain, but a slight tugging as the suture was being pulled through my skin. he did a total of six knots, two to actually keep closed and the other four were a just in case.


after he's done with the suturing, you'll hold a piece of gauze gently over the site and he'll cut the torniquete off, you'll bleed a bit, and then you get wrapped up and you're done! 

as for after care, you should take ibuprofen 800mg immediately, and ice your finger. preventing swelling is KEY. you dont want your body to recognize magnet and reject it. also, cassox gave me some antibiotics after wards, this isn't necessary for everyone, however, i was going to work the next day in a hospital and I was seriously worried about picking up something nasty from there like MRSA or staph.


to protect my magnet, i wrapped it in gauze the first two days so that i could protect it, i also cleaned with alcohol wipes and flushed it with normal saline, letting it air dry and then ice it for twenty minutes to heal faster i recommend keeping it dry before you wrap it up, also keep taking the ibuprofen for the next seven days.

i had the benefit of having some prednisone on hand as well, so i took that to keep the swelling down. the night i got it done and slept with it elevated ( i sleep on my side no big deal there)

afterwards pain wasn't an issue so much, it only hurt when i pressed it against something which only happened while getting dressed


if you have any further questions let me know, i'll be happy to answer, and ill have pics up soon.

also sorry for any spelling or grammar errors.


Comments

  • Actually, when I work I set up using exam gloves. Then I remove them, scrub, and don surgical. While some advocate double gloving it would two pairs of surgical gloves, not surgical over exam. Good write up!
  • Why four injections? I was told to use the transthecal digital block. I was told you only need 2.5-3 ml and one injection. Is this correct?
  • Well, there are several ways you can block the fingers, and if you count the bit of local you do before you go straight for the nerve bundle as an injection, I could see how you could end up with four.
  • edited May 2016
    I will eventually get pics up, but I've been feeling lazy the past few days... Lol I'll try for this evening
  • Hows the healing? JordyGordy got one of the Parylene coated units. These are generally pretty good although I'm always concerned with coating integrity.
  • edited May 2016
    Displaying 20160503_181401.jpgDisplaying 20160503_181401.jpgDisplaying 20160503_181401.jpghow do i upload images in comments?
  • I don't think the forum software supports media hosting. But if you upload to something like imgur you can embed the url
  • oh ok. ill look into getting an imgur account or something LOL it won't happen righ away then
  • Oh, and it wasn't an M31 by the way. It was a parylene coated unit.
  • ahhh. i thought it was an M31 magnet with a parylene coat

  • Not a question directly related to the how to do it but a where to do it, Is there a way to know if there is someone that is willing to implant near me? Or is it a big game of hear say?
  • i was lucky in that i found out that there was a guy near me, where do you live? also check out the meet ups section.
  • UPDATE: so i finally made an imgur account, heres pic of my magnet about a month after impantation [img]http://i.imgur.com/IfmwHcg.jpg[/img]

    I had the pictures of the site and set up but unfortunately my broke and they hadn't been backed up to my cloud so i lost them, sorry! 
  • UPDATE: so, my mag is doing Ok so far, it looks like it fully healed but i have had very little sensation as of yet. im not sure if just not around any magnetic fields or if im just feeling it yet. im going to wait another month, maybe two, and if i dont have anything then I'll pull it. it just depends on the status of the new mags.
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