You can hurt yourself other ways besides working on cars….

So we redid our master bathroom less than a year ago.  Had a custom shower door made, which took forever to get.  
The last few days I'd noticed that the door seemed to have slipped some out of the upper bracket as the door would no longer close

Looking at the bracket it's a friction fit for the glass with two Phillips head screws anchoring it.  Ok, loosen the screws, push the door up some and retighten, easy right?

So I do that and it moves some but not as much as it needs to.  So I loosen the screws again and am pushing it when the door literally explodes.

There I am, standing in a pile of glass, barefoot, holding the door handle wondering wtf just happened.  A quick body scan shows I'm bleeding from a finger on each hand.

My wife, who was in the bathroom with me is freaking out.  She gets a blanket for me to walk on and a towel for my fingers and drives me to urgent care.  Four stitches per finger and I'm done.

This happened yesterday.

There should be a door there...

I changed the dressing today and have limited mobility of my right index finger.  I'm worried I won't be able to work tomorrow or the rest of the week.  
I'm so careful with my hands when doing yard work or garage work, this was a total shock that it happened.

Be careful everyone, especially if you use your hands to make your living like I do...

Good luck, I had a freak accident with my fingers last spring, no fun. Take good care of the wounds and follow up with PT. Hope you heal quickly 

Walked on to my wet back deck on the way to the shop yesterday and as I was doing a  ( non-elegant) cartwheel down the flight of  steps, I realized that there was ice under the water. Wish I had a video of that. 

I used to install those.

You probably pushed the door up enough for the edge of the tempered glass to hit the metal of the hinge.  Doesn't take much pressure on the edge for tempered glass to let go.

Ouch. Sorry to hear that. How thick was that tempered glass door? At least your shower was clean enough to take a picture of without having to scrub it first.  I was helping assemble a sun room once and was holding a $$$ 2'x4' tempered curved thermopane insert and was resting it on my foot while another guy was pounding on an extruded cover over 8' away. My toes started hurting so I gently rested one corner of the glass on the other end of the aluminum cover. After about the 5th whack of the rubber mallet, it exploded in my hands. No blood though.

In reply to VolvoHeretic :

Those hinges are typically for 3/8" glass.  The 1/2" hinges usually have three screws to hold it tight

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Not sure, it didn't feel like the door was moving much.  I wonder if I hadn't loosened the set screws enough and the friction from the bracket made the door explode.  Whatever did it, it totally sucks.  I'm not sure I'll be able to work this week and now we need to try and source another custom made shower door.  At least it's a dual shower and we can use the other side...

In retrospect I wish I'd called a friend over to help, then I would've removed the one side of the bracket entirely while he held the door.  Then position it and reinstall the bracket.  I was worried someone would let the door close too quickly and shatter the entire thing.  Plus it seemed like a really easy 1 minute fix that I could do solo

docwyte said:

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Not sure, it didn't feel like the door was moving much.  I wonder if I hadn't loosened the set screws enough and the friction from the bracket made the door explode.  Whatever did it, it totally sucks.  I'm not sure I'll be able to work this week and now we need to try and source another custom made shower door.  At least it's a dual shower and we can use the other side...

In retrospect I wish I'd called a friend over to help, then I would've removed the one side of the bracket entirely while he held the door.  Then position it and reinstall the bracket.  I was worried someone would let the door close too quickly and shatter the entire thing.  Plus it seemed like a really easy 1 minute fix that I could do solo

Yeah, the hinges are designed to really grip the glass.  After they've been set for more than a week, we'd usually take the hinge all the way off, clean the surface of the glass with acetone on the front and back, wash the rubber gasket, then put it back together once dry and adjust.  If you didn't do that they probably held pretty dadgum tight until they finally overcame the grip on them and jerked up into the hinge.

We'd usually use wood shims to adjust the height when we got there.  Shims on the bottom, on the wall, and on the other piece of glass and it would basically hold it completely in place while we installed the loose hinge plate.

Wow, I am also dependent on my hands for my profession, so I really sympathize. I hope you have a quick and complete recovery.

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Given that the door had slipped in the hinge I really thought it'd be easy to just lift/push it back into place easily.  Apparently not!  With the exception of the upper hinge causing that top corner of the door to move, the rest of the gaps were fine.  Lesson learned, call a glass company to come out for any necessary adjustments!

Could have been worse!?!

Sorry to hear this story doc - but thanks for sharing the cautionary tale. I know tempered glass is super "edge" fragile but what you described would have seemed reasonable to me also.

Serious question? Do dentists carry some kind of insurance for loss of hands?

[I always think back to Willis McGahee's knee injury in the 2003 NCAA pointyball national championship - and the story that he insured his legs before the game]

In reply to docwyte :

Good luck with your healing! 

Years ago I had a storm window shatter on me, severing my right ulnar nerve, tendon & artery. I never regained feeling in the pinky, or outer side of my ring finger on that hand, but I was able to regain my strength & full use of that hand.

It sounds like you got pretty lucky, so hopefully your recovery time is much quicker & you're back to work soon! 

In reply to OHSCrifle :

I've got general disability insurance that covers me for everything and overhead insurance for the business.  So that covers all the bases.

In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :

Yeah, it could've been much worse.  Took the dressings off this morning, rocking some band aides so I can get gloves over them.  My index finger feels better, still a bit sore but I'll see how I do for my first few patients of the morning.  I'll take the stitches out this Saturday, hopefully totally healed up by the following Saturday.

Wow. Yeah, we have had to mess with a 1/2" thick frameless glass door a few times here (those things are just maintenance headaches compared to a glass door with a frame!!) and every time I'm a bit nervous. I'll be sure to wear gloves next time.

docwyte said:

In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :

Yeah, it could've been much worse.  Took the dressings off this morning, rocking some band aides so I can get gloves over them.  My index finger feels better, still a bit sore but I'll see how I do for my first few patients of the morning.  I'll take the stitches out this Saturday, hopefully totally healed up by the following Saturday.

I know you are a doctor and all, but shouldn't you let someone else do it for you? ;)

And glad it didn't get into your eyes- I had a shattered car window slightly get into my eye as a kid.  Wasn't serious, but in hindsight, freaking scary.

Super surprised you ended up with stitches from tempered glass. I've broken quite a bit of it over the last 20 years and never gotten more than a scratch. 

Heal fast. 

In reply to alfadriver :

LOL, stitch removal is super easy.  I got that.

Saw my first patient this morning, simple, easy filling.  Got it done no problem but the movement of my index finger made the incision start to ooze.  Dammit, can't work.  So will just do exams today and probably tomorrow too

Ouch. Heal up Buddy. 

Glass work is something I always farm out just for this reason. I dropped one side window replacing a window regulator and that was enough for me. 

This isn't as rare as you'd hope it was.  If you google "exploding glass shower doors" you'll get plenty of hits.  Sometimes they'll go spontaneously.

Vinyl curtains aren't nearly as attractive, but not many people are injuring by vinyl shower curtains.

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

Unfortunately can't do that, it's a custom shower and way too big for a curtain

How are ya digits doc?

for some reason your plight reminded me of this blast from the past 

(The Jerky Boys)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=yUCNg02Vsac&feature=share

Middle finger on my left hand is pretty good.  Has a divot in it that needs to fill in but wound is closed.  Right index finger got infected, so I'm on antibiotics for that and have been draining it.  Looks like the infection is pretty much gone now, wound is sealed but still is several days away from being closed up completely...

Speaking of non-car related injuries, don't play soccer while wearing flip flops. I was playing with my 3 year old son last summer, stepped on the ball, and went down like a sack of potatoes. Turns out the flip-flop gripped the ball, twisting my foot and breaking the outer bone halfway up. It's been almost a year, but it still gets sore in that exact spot when I exercise.