I am here to give you a very important public service message:
If your can opener has gotten dull, throw it away. Do it. Right now. Do not continue to use it. I know you are thinking you will replace it when you buy a new one, but you will use it in the meantime. If you keep it, you WON’T remember to buy a new one. Your dull one will just get more and more dull, until there is a tragedy.
Yes, kids, learn from my mistake. I have been using a dull can opener for months. After it got about half way around the can, it would temporary stop cutting. Then it would start cutting again. That would leave me with partially opened can with two metal strips on each side that were almost open. Generally, I would use something like a knife or a spoon to pry it open.
This very scenario took place in my kitchen the other night as I was trying to pry open a can of Sichuan Preserved Vegetable so I could make Dan Dan noodles, my new obsession. As I tried to pry open the can with a spoon, I thought (for the thousandth time) ” I need a new can opener.” followed by “Hmm, this is really stuck. Using this spoon to pry open this lid is probably a really bad idea.”
That is precisely when my hand slipped and I watched the jagged lid slice through the knuckle on my third finger. After one glance at the gaping hole, I decided I needed to head to urgent care to see if I needed stitches. I tossed the kids in the car and dumped them at Patti’s house to wait for Mr. A to get home from work.
Four stitches later, I am the proud owner of a lovely FrankenFinger. I was pretty much OK for the entire stitching procedure, except for when the doctor said “Oh, there is your tendon, fortunately you missed it by a hair.” I have to admit the thought of someone personally viewing my tendon made me a little woozy.
I stopped and bought a new “no sharp edges” can opener on my way home from urgent care.
Learn from my mistake. If your can opener is dull, throw it away! Don’t let this happen to you!
Eek, I’ve always been squeamish about cans and now I’ll be even more so! The similar Big Life Lesson from our house in November was that if you insist on using a steak knife to get something frozen out of a plastic container, don’t hold that container in your other hand!
At least it sounds like you won’t have to do physical therapy. Lee has almost all her mobility and most of her feeling back, but still has a fair amount of pain.
Oh no!! I’m sorry about your finger. Several friends have that smooth opener, I think it’s a good kitchen gadget to have. We do use an electric an opener, though… (which does make the removed lid really sharp-edged… not that good, right?).
Argh! That made my stomach flip over. Thanks for writing that – ours is exactly the same, it stops and starts as it goes round the can. It’s in the bin.
OH babe! so sorry! xoxo
Oh my. I got a large cut in my hand while doing dishes last year – a glass broken, apparently spontaneously, and earned me 7 stitches. I still have quite the scar (and also quite luckily missed any tendons or other important bits). I’m glad you were lucky!
Yikes! Sorry you had to go through this, but kudos on turning it into a public service announcement! Why is it we humans never learn until something tragic happens??
Thank you for not posting pictures. This was the wrong thing to read while eating lunch.
OUCH. Yikes and ouch. Maybe I’ll replace my 15-year-old can opener soon.
OUCH. That happened to me once, but it only took one stitch. Here’s hoping for a fast recovery. (And I agree: thanks for no photos!)
Yikes! I hope you are feeling better. I replaced mine a few months back. My mom had always told me to never keep a dull opener, I wonder if she had first hand experience.
I did almost the exact same thing in December. I was slicing a bagel for lunch. My husband was scheduled for a colonoscopy and I was supposed to drive him there. Instead, he drove himself and I drove myself to urgent care for three stitches. It was still bleeding when the doctor saw me 90 minutes later. My husband’s doctor called me ‘the knife lady’ when I picked him up.