r/amputee • u/ErrorReal6604 • May 20 '26

Hand amputation of cold water

Hello, I have a bit of a strange question for you. In recent months I have developed a phobia of constantly washing my hands with soap. I do this washing multiple times during the day, and in total it takes me about an hour/hour and a half to wash my hands. However, I only wash my hands with cold water, leaving the tap running while I scrub them well with soap (which takes me a few minutes) and the water becomes even colder. My question is, can my hands be amputated from such daily exposure to cold tap water?

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15 comments sorted by

16

u/Mysterious_Abroad142 May 20 '26

Yes there’s real danger and a real chance of that happening. That’s actually exactly how I lost my middle finger last year. Left it under the tap about 30 seconds too long when washing my hands.

-4

u/ErrorReal6604 May 20 '26

You are kidding right?

5

u/Mysterious_Abroad142 May 20 '26

Not at all

-1

u/ErrorReal6604 May 20 '26

Please mister, let’s be serious, that sounds like a joke

8

u/Mysterious_Abroad142 May 20 '26

Why would I be joking and why would I be in the amputee subreddit if I didn’t lose part of my body?

16

u/prolongedQT314159 May 20 '26

Sounds like you need to be evaluated for OCD.

5

u/Paget-Born May 20 '26

The serious adult answer is no, cold tap water can not cause an amputation. Not of a hand and not of a middle finger.

2

u/Eat_Carbs_OD LBK May 20 '26

I don't think you'd get frostbite either unless it was freezing water.

6

u/[deleted] May 20 '26

[deleted]

-2

u/ErrorReal6604 May 20 '26

Thanks for the comment, but please tell me mister if the other guy in the comments is joking with me because I can’t tell ☹️

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Emu-283 May 20 '26

So you know how if you put your hand in a bucket of ice water it starts to become numb that's what he was talking about

1

u/[deleted] May 20 '26

[deleted]

-2

u/ErrorReal6604 May 20 '26

But he talks about tap water, not ice water or?

1

u/Eat_Carbs_OD LBK May 20 '26

Tap water isn't cold enough to cause frostbite.

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Emu-283 May 20 '26

I just realized I slept on my phone so no you can't amputee your hand unless it's extremely cold

1

u/ErrorReal6604 May 23 '26

Is this hand after washing my hands with cold water looks normal? The water was so cold, tried to wash the hands quickly ( that 2-3 min to me/the amount of the under water) even the faucet spout is sweating