Removing a Cast

I broke my arm about a month ago and it is finally time to get this hateful pink cast removed. The problem? I recently lost my job and w/o insurance I can't afford to have the cast removed professionally. Does anyone have any tips for removing it myself? I can't exactly leave it in place until I am able to fiond another job with insurance. Thanks

Don't do that.

How is it taken off?

* Your child will probably have to wear the splint or cast from a few weeks to a few months.
* A doctor or trained assistant should take off the cast. Never do it at home.
* The doctor uses a round saw to remove a cast. The saw makes a loud noise. It shakes, but does not turn. It does not cut the skin.
* The padding will protect your child's skin.

http://www.vh.org/pediatric/patient/pediatrics/cqqa/splints.html#5

[Edited on Jul 21, 2005 by robosagogo]

Call the hospital where you got the cast (how did you pay for that?). Tell them your problem, not anonymous strangers on the internet. Ask them if they know a free clinic, or if they have a sliding scale for emergency services. You might need physical therapy. You might not be ready to have it off without a splint or a sling.

Take care of yourself.

Yikes! I second this advice. Please be safe.

You wont EVER get it off without cutting the shit out of yourself.

When I got it put on I had insurance that paid for it........I suppose I could just go to my appt and pray that they take checks....

Perhaps it's an all-inclusive service? That is, they charge for removal at the same time they put it on, so you've already paid for it. If they don't, well, it just doesn't make much sense.

"Yes, sir, we know you paid to have it put on. But now you have to pay to get it off. If you can't pay, I'm afraid we'll just have to leave it on forever."

But things are silly sometimes, so I guess this wouldn't surprise me.

i agree with what he said ^

plus not worth risking hurting yourself again and incurring more hospital bills

don't do it! go to the county health clinic or something if they have one

I started college - in a new city and state - with a cast on my arm. I couldn't get back to see my orthopedist at home, and I couldn't get a new orthopedist to give me an appointment to just take off a cast (literally, receptionists laughed at me). So I went to a nearby hospital, went up to the orthopedic section, and begged someone to just take the cast off. And they did. It takes about 2 minutes. The residents seemed a little wary that maybe it hadn't healed yet or whatnot, but when I explained my situation to them (as well as assured them that it hadn't actually been a break, just ligament damage that my doc wanted to protect with a cast) and they took it off.

Of course, it was kind of a sketchy hospital. When I got pneumonia a few months later and ended up in their emergency room, they lost me. They couldn't figure out where they put me and had to keep paging me to find me. I was semi-conscious and having trouble breathing, but hey.

How long ago did you lose your job? Have you looked into COBRA coverage? I'm fairly sure that employers that provide healthcare have to give recently terminated employees the chance to buy into COBRA, which is like temporary coverage until you get back on your feet or whatever. I believe that you pay the same or less than you were paying for coverage while employed. It's a really, really good idea (I think you can choose to activate it up to a few months after termination). Especially because you had an actual break and it would be a good idea to get follow-up care in addition to just getting the cast off.

I'd actually thought of people having to have it taken off in a different place, but I still think it's silly. There was some other situation I ran across lately that was like this. Now I can't remember what it was, though. Grr...

It smells pretty bad when you have a cast taken off.
I think if you used like. . .some tin snips, or something similar, and were really careful, you could get it off okay. Or maybe those scissors that EMTs use. They are made to be safe for cutting off clothing, so it would probaly be hard to cut yourself, and they're pretty tough too.

Try the cobra thing but if that doesent work.

Use a philips screw driver to make a series of holes in a line from top to bottom. Dont press hard just softly turn the screw driver and it will drill through the plaster. Doesn't take much pressure. Dont ram it through the cast your limb is on the other side. Once you have a line of holes say 3/4 of an inch apart wiggle the scraw driver back and forth in line with the rest of the holes. This softens the plaster and you should be able to cut the gause with a pair of sisors.

Can you tell Ive done it a few times.

I take casts off for a living and I still don't feel comfy doing it after 2 years. Please go see a pro in reguards to this

of course you could just leave it on and when people ask you what the hell is it....

just tell them your turning into a young girls pinata.

Good advice, also, a Pro should take a look at the arm to be sure the break healed properly. My best friend had to have his arm re-broken and fixed as it healed crooked.

Good luck

Do NOT do it yourself. Please. The doctor will need to examine you to make sure it's time for it to come off and to determine if you'll need a brace/splint/whatever.

Explain your situation to the clinic/hospital. They're used to working with uninsured people. When I had to have a thyroid test, they set up a payment plan that was well within my budget (about $50/month). It took me a year to pay it off, but at least I didn't get socked with a gigantic bill that would have ended up in collections.

COBRA is hellishly expensive. My premium was $60/month when employed and would have been $520/month with the COBRA coverage. I opted out of it.

I broke my leg when I was a teenager, got a fiberglass cast, whuch I assume you have as well, unless you live in Mayberry, no one uses plaster. Went on vacation to Hawaii, wanted to surk, had to lose the cast. So I cut it off with a steak knife, no worries.

Now, I'm a Firefighter/Paramedic. The scissors the others speak of are trauma shears, they cut through a lot, and they have a rounded end that rides against the skin, so if you somehow cut yourself that is Darwin speaking. It's a piece of cake as long as the cast is ready to come off, I've removed my own casts and stitches before and long before I was a medic. Go for it.

Does it bother anyone else when people start threads asking for help, then never respond when they get the advice they asked for?

Circular Saw man! Might as well chop the whole thing off!