Dangers of the Art (GRAPHIC!!)
 

This is a thread for scaring off newbies. If you have any photos of burns, cuts or anything else related to glass working, put them here.

Here is one I just got. Ran my finger through the flame.
Put it in ice water for about 30min and took some ibuprofen and put some lidocane on it.

Its not third degree because the charring is only on the surface. You can see pink in the cracks. It doesn't hurt much, but I think it will later.

Nice... I've had a couple of pretty good burns... twice in exactly the same spot (almost in the same location as yours except a little higher above the knuckle)... did you know blister water sparks when it hits the flame?

My last burn I actually watched as my hand entered the flame, blistered, and popped in the flame, it was kind of slow motion thing, really weird. Didn't hurt right away, took about 3-4 hours before I was finally enough pain to go to the ER.

Sorry no pics, it's never occurred to me to take pics, yuck...

Its been about 2 hours, with no pain yet.

Yeah...uh...that's kind of a really bad sign. Pain is good - says
the nerves are still there and not burnt to smithereens.
Might want to have a doc take a look at that.
You know...just for sh*ts and giggles.

That looks like it will smart later. Ouch!

I'm surprised to hear that you put ice on the burn. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fir...-burns/FA00022 I am very careful to educate my friends and students to not use ice. It can re-burn, or iceburn the now very fragile tissue. It is suggested to run the burn under cool water (not cold), this removes the radiating heat that is continuing to cause more damage. Once the burned area is cool to the touch medication can be added. (never use butter - this enhances or conducts the heat)

One reason a burn hurts is it is exposed to oxygen. This is why sometimes if you cover the burn with a simple wet paper towel the pain dissipates, and if removed, it hurts again.

I LOVE Biogause. My friends sent me a few packages from France. But I have heard that tofu can help, although I have not tried it. Silvodine is another, however it does not compare to the Biogauze. That stuff is a gift from god. It almost completely heals the burn in a matter of 24 hours. I was boiling potatoes and spilled the boiling water down my chest (Note: don't cook dangerous foods like bacon or boiling anything while naked, DUH!) I placed the Biogauze on the burn for 48 hours. No pain, however, the top layer of my tan peeled off. I am certain that if I did not have this medicine, I would have a scar on my chest and an ER bill. No scar, yay!

I have also had plenty of burns from glass, comes with the territory. Darn it!

It seems like a second and a half degree to me. It hurts if it gets hot (like licking it)

I got a third degree burn on my leg while taking my first lampworking class ever. I had gotten way ahead of the rest of the group, so the instructor showed me how to make marbles. My first one popped off the punty and rolled on to my lap, catching my jeans on fire. It created a dime sized third degree burn. It didn't hurt a darn bit! My dr put me on antibiotics as a precaution since burns get infected easily but I had no issues at all with it. I bought my first torch 2 weeks later. I wonder if I still would have gotten into lampworking if the burn had actually felt like a burn? Lol.

First I have to say this isn't me, I forgot who originally posted the pic I just thought it would make a good reminder :lol:

OMFG is that a stringer??

it sure is

I've jabbed my self pretty good with glass, but that really takes the cake. Is it real?

Uuuugh... is there a passing out smilie dude some where? I feel faint.

I had a 1/4 inch piece of hair thick glass in my foot. Scared the **** out of me because I thought it broke off inside when I pulled it out.

Quite a few years ago (before I ever worked in glass) we used to party out in our garage... one Friday or Saturday night while we were out there, there was an earthquake and it knocked a glass container off of a shelf and it literally exploded on top of the dryer. Me, in my infinite and inebriated condition, didn't think twice when I used my hand to "sweep" the glass off the top of it.

I think I'm still picking out glass...

I have a magical regrowing thumb, I havnt done this in a long time, and I finished the bead.
Im a firm believer in aloe vera, But this was a third degree burn Im sure.
http://www.everafterartistry.com/sacrafice.JPG

Dammit! I knew that was gonna be the pic! I saw it posted in your FB photos... no??

That pic makes my stomach do flip flops. :lol:

Thats what mine looks like, but its not so big. I'm not tough enough so I didn't finish the piece.

Yes it's a real pic of a stringer from Dec 2008 I think Deb Kauzlarich posted it.

If it wasn't for the nail I'd swear that was a pic of my thumb from last Sept.

I really must take myself off of the notifications for this thread... ya'll are making my tummy get all topsy turvy!

I really am surprised at how many people have the frame of mind to take a photo when they have such an injury. I tell ya, that was the last thing I was thinkin' about.

This is about a week after the burn, once the giant blister burst. The first day the edges of the blister were charred black, and the top was smooth white. The blister got bigger and fatter until it just exploded, and holy shit did that hurt. It really wasn't too painful the first couple of days until it popped. This one sent me to the doctor because some lovely green ooze started coming out. It happened almost a year ago, and I still have a giant, dark scar on my hand.

http://ivisionhosting.com/users/trac.../beads/ow3.jpg

This is the brother to the one that was on my hand (same
spot, same size) a few years ago. For some reason I (being
Right handed) decided the best place to put my tools would
be to the left of my torch. All it took was a massive bead,
me not paying attention in my haste to finish it,and a tool
I needed on the left. I just passed my hand through the
flame and UUUuuuuuugggghhhh {{{shudder}}}.
Agony.

My worst burns, the one with the char marks, haven't hurt and have healed without incident. But the smell is always a little unnerving..

I remember that pic - I think that's Sharon Abood's finger. :shudder:

I burned my butt cheek but I didn't take pictures. :lol:
I was making a beads while wearing shorts so take it from me when I say "Don't wear shorts while lampworking". I was sitting on a short step stool and the end of my hot molten rod popped off. I jumped up and didn't see the end so I sat back down and some how the back of my shorts scooped it up inside my shorts and burned my butt. It wasn't a real bad burn but my butt cheek was sore for several days and I did get a blister.

that stringer pic was something else!!! <<gaggg>>

my worst newbie glass horror story comes from not wearing shoes in the studio (stupid i know but i don't wear shoes inside the house and had just vaccuumed) - obviously i missed a spot cuz i stepped on something sharp, pulled a small shard of glass out of my foot, wiped up the blood and thought things were ok.

a few hours later i'm at work and my foot is KILLING me! i can feel a piece of glass digging further and further into the sole of my foot with each step. i finally had to call my sister to meet me and she dug out an almost 1" CHUNK of glass. we both gasped when she got it out and she asked me if i was crazy to have been walking around with that in my foot all day...i'd thought it was just a thread of glass. LOL

No pics altho now i wish i'd kept that bit of glass as a warning for my stupidity. since then, vacuumed or not i ALWAYS wear shoes in the studio...lessons learned, right? :-D

I used to keep my stringers in a container right near the
mandrels. Once, when I was bragging to my hubby about how
great my setup was, I managed to reach for a mandrel AND
skewer my arm on a stringer that was sticking up. Now the
stringers reside in another place.

...it's funny how injuries have dictated my studio setup more
than common sense :roll:.

We need Shawnette and her cooked leg in this thread.

Ok, here's a total noobie story...

right after i got my torch stuff set up in the basement (cement floor thank goodness)...

I'm torching away on a Sunday morning. And what am I wearing? My PJ's of course (hey, they're comfy!). I'm not sure what exactly I did, but a big chunk of molten glass stuff breaks off the bead and lands (drum roll please...) in my lap!

I jump up, strip them off, put out the edges that are still smoldering with my slippers. I end up with a nice little burn on my upper thigh!

But...then I realize....I'm now half naked!!!

In the other room, my 17 yr old son has 3 of his friends spending the night...they're all conked out all over the place and I have to walk through that room to get upstairs...EEEEK!!!

Needless to say, I made it without any of them seeing my half naked butt. The next day I bought a welding apron and have used it religiously since.

Note to noobies....buy an apron! LOL

Oh crap, who was the one that shared the story of stripping naked to get hot glass off of her and realized she was in front of a large window with lots of people outside?

Can you tell me where I might be able to purchase Biogauze. I checked all my local stores and no go and even Googled it with no luck. Any help would be appreciated!

I'd like to know about this biogauze stuff too.

I don't have any personal injuries to share, but someone posted one time about an lampworking injury that still makes me cringe just thinking about it.

Forgive me if I don't get it completely right, but the gist of it is they were cleaning up their work area and had a handful of mandrels in their hand. They bent over to pick something up from the floor and jammed one of the mandrels up their nose and perforated something in her sinus. I mean hard and far. Almost lobotomized herself. She fought infection with that for a long time and it was very nasty. I never bend over to pick something up with anything in my hand and I think of her every time.

~~Mary
I'd rather be burnt any time.

edited to add:

Well, no source yet for biogauze in my searching- but I did find some interesting blog by someone who has used it (scroll down the the feb5 entry):
http://evanhealynaturalskincare.blogspot.com/
~~Mary