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Comment by readme | Hacker News Reader

>A hospital charged my friend $5k for three stitches

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGDUqBLtyNM

DIY can save money. I've used superglue for this in the past.

You don’t have to use superglue, there is special medical glue for this purpose you can buy. Also great for treating cuts before swimming, etc.

Search for “tissue adhesive” or “liquid bandage”.

Please don't do this at home.

For the downvoters: SERIOUSLY DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME! Let the medical professionals put in your stitches.

I seriously can't believe I have to say this.

This is America. It’s much cheaper here to risk our lives than to risk bankruptcy from visiting a hospital.

I have to assume the guy who says not to do this is from a country with universal healthcare.

I cut my index finger pretty bad, it must have been all the way through the skin as there was a big flap. It definitely needed stitches. I used superglue to hold it together until it stayed stuck on its own. I couldn’t use the finger for like a week because it was all bandaged up. Probably not as a good job as if I went to the doctor, but my finger didn’t fall off. HDHP turns you into a do-it-yourselfer. My mother had a much more serious gash when she dropped a piece of glass on her foot. This was on Croatia. We went to the ER in the city, and she got stitches fairly quickly for like $20 cash. If I would have cut my finger in Croatia, I would have gone to ER to get stitches.

Had a coworker do this as well. Cut his finger, used superclue to hold it together. Turned out well, apparently.

With the Healthcare situation in the US, it's basically past the point of just saying "go to a doctor, don't diy." Now it's just better to give out accurate information for diy people to do it safely.

Get normal medical glue instead of superglue - search for “tissue adhesive” or “liquid bandage”.

For 5 grand? Yeah fucking right. Why would you recommend that?

Because a high chance of an infection/botched job would lead to a much larger bill and more pain.

You can keep saying it, until you provide an argument. ALL CAPS is not an argument, you're just stating your opinion louder.

My family used superglue at home for cuts all the time. Not really much worse than doctor stitches.

The difference between you and a doctor for little things like stitches that causes the $5k price tag is a couple of hours of study, credentialism, beurocracy and malpractice insurance. Only the couple of hours study is actually needed and you can do that yourself pretty easily with the internet.

There's medical grade superglue, it's a bit more expensive than regular superglue which has mildly toxic byproducts.

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