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Teeny, tiny piece of glass in my thumb


UncleEJ
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Two weeks ago I dropped my phone and shattered the screen. I got a tiny piece of glass in my thumb while cleaning it up. The next day, DH tried to go after it with the tweezers and I thought he got it. But a few days later, I could still feel it. This time I dug around for it and still didn't manage to get it out. The skin has healed back over the spot but when I touch my thumb in a certain way I can still feel it in there. What should I do? Will my body "work" it out on its own? Of course its my right thumb so I use it more and its had to work on it with my left hand.

 

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I once got a sliver of a splintered fiberglass tent pole lodged in my finger.  I dug and dug and dug on and off for months.  Like in your case, it would heal over, but then I would touch something with that finger in a certain way and I could still feel it in there (and it hurt!!).  

 

Finally, I gave up and went to urgent care.  They took an x-ray (didn't see anything) and then numbed my finger, made a little incision and started poking around with tweezers.  The doctor said it was rare for them to find anything, and that most of the time the splinter was either flushed away when they irrigated the wound or stayed in there and the body encapsulated it in fat until you could no longer feel it.

 

However, in my case, he poked around for a few minutes and then pulled out a half inch sliver of fiberglass.  I was glad I had went.

 

Wendy

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I had a chunk of wood from a bad pool stick in my finger.  My dad took me to get it out and they obviously didn't.  I didn't bother with it (the thing was an inch long) until I was 31 and it developed a cyst on it.  At that point, I couldn't bend my finger.  It didn't hurt, it was just really annoying.   The doctor made me get an MRI on my finger because he didn't believe it was a chunk of wood from 17 years previously.  I had to get it surgically removed and he was surprised that I was right.  So, no, your body may not work it out on it's own.  You have to ask yourself if it's going to bug you to the point you do something about it, or if you want it to be a nice conversation piece. 

Edited by bethben
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It will probably work itself out but that can take a long, long, painful time. If you know where it is, I'd have a doctor get it out while you still know where to find it. My mom had a pencil lead stuck in her forehead- apparently she jabbed herself with the pencil in a pique and it snapped and she couldn't get it out. About 6 months later it came out in a big cyst on her back! Ewww!

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Personally I'd cut it out myself with a very sharp knife (my dad used to take mine out as a child that way, and I've done so twice as an adult - it never hurt as bad as the splinter did),  but I recognize not everyone has either my pain tolerance or my patience for gore.  So my advice would be to go to the doctor.

 

You could also try soaking it in hot (not scalding) water with a good amount of epsom salt - that's what DH does when he gets a splinter and I offer to cut it out for him. He says a tiny amount of the splinter always sticks out when he does that and he can then either scrape it out or use tweezers to get the rest.  He hasn't let me cut one out yet.  He does have a higher tolerance for sitting still with his hand soaking in water than I do though.

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Just FYI (this is too late for the OP, but in case some people dont know) A glass sliver can be removed at the time of impact by soaking your finger. Glass isn't like wood, it doesn't swell when it gets wet, so when your skin gets loose it's easy to get the sliver. I learned this as a bartender back in the day, lol.

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It will probably work itself out but that can take a long, long, painful time. If you know where it is, I'd have a doctor get it out while you still know where to find it. My mom had a pencil lead stuck in her forehead- apparently she jabbed herself with the pencil in a pique and it snapped and she couldn't get it out. About 6 months later it came out in a big cyst on her back! Ewww!

 

That is so gross!  On the other hand, it's amazing what the human body is capable of. 

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Personally I'd cut it out myself with a very sharp knife (my dad used to take mine out as a child that way, and I've done so twice as an adult - it never hurt as bad as the splinter did),  but I recognize not everyone has either my pain tolerance or my patience for gore.  So my advice would be to go to the doctor.

 

You could also try soaking it in hot (not scalding) water with a good amount of epsom salt - that's what DH does when he gets a splinter and I offer to cut it out for him. He says a tiny amount of the splinter always sticks out when he does that and he can then either scrape it out or use tweezers to get the rest.  He hasn't let me cut one out yet.  He does have a higher tolerance for sitting still with his hand soaking in water than I do though.

 

I do have a fairly high tolerance for pain and high tolerance for gore, but being that is on my right thumb, I'm not coordinated enough do do much with my left hand. I tried the other day with tweezers and a needle and it was a clumsy affair. I also can't see it since it is clear glass and so, so small. Ugh, I may have to leave this one to the professionals. 

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Just FYI (this is too late for the OP, but in case some people dont know) A glass sliver can be removed at the time of impact by soaking your finger. Glass isn't like wood, it doesn't swell when it gets wet, so when your skin gets loose it's easy to get the sliver. I learned this as a bartender back in the day, lol.

 

This is good to know! Thank you!

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I had a tiny sliver of glass lodge in my foot when we first moved into this house, walking around barefoot on the hardwood floor.  I guess the previous owners broke something and didn't clean it up very well... It was stuck there for maybe 3 months until it finally worked itself out.  The sensation was somewhere between annoying and painful when I walked, but eventually the skin formed a sort of callus and it wasn't as bad.

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OK, I am going to be rechecking this thread to find the outcome, so OP you'd better update us!  LOL

 

I, personally, am the dig it out myself kinda gal, but I understand about it being awkward since it's in your dominant hand.  (Still, I have this weird affinity for getting out splinters, etc.  Everyone in my family comes to me for it.  LOL)

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