Smashed finger

It was bound to happen eventually. I'm generally a hands-on person, and as such often find myself working with power tools, in tight engine compartments, etc. I figured that eventually I would accidentally stress the implant while bending metal or opening a stuck valve... it finally happened unexpectedly while tapping a keg of beer.

I have a small "keggerator" (a self contained beer chilling and dispensing device) that I am in the process of transforming into a MAME cabinet. While connecting a newly purchased 5 gallon keg of Fat Tire I rotated the keg tap and quickly pushed it down - in order to prevent the pressurized spray of beverage that escapes if you do it too slowly. In what would be a "worst case" scenario, the tip of my right ring finger was pinched between the handle and the keg edge, rotating and crushing it.

Immediately I knew that I had disturbed the implant. My finger throbbed as I prodded the area gently. A small circular area of red appeared near the magnet, like a pocket of blood beneath the surface. I knew that there was nothing I could do about the injury, so I waited. After a few days the implant seems like it has re-healed. It's a bit tender to the touch but full sensitivity has returned. Only time will tell if the Parylene coating was compromised, but at this point it seems just fine. I'm quite certain that had I opted for a silicone dipped implant, it would have met its demise.

It's still too early for me to condone going out and implanting Parylene coated magnets into people's fingers, but if the implant survives incidents like this one I can see this becoming very viable, very soon.