Janie Grace Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 A friend broke a glass Friday night and I stepped on a tiny shard. I immediately tried to get it out with teeezers but couldn't get it. Dh says it will "work itself out" but here we are 48 hours later and it hurts. It's not throbbing but it's annoying; it's definitely THERE. WWYD? Will this solve itself soon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 I assume you've soaked it? Honestly, I'd dig it out. Enlarge the spot where it went in with sterilized scissors or a pin or the tweezers and get it out. Or, if I couldn't, I'd make dh do it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 I use nail clippers--sterilized with alcohol--to clip away a bit of skin if necessary and to grab the splinter/glass and pull it out. They work way better for me than tweezers do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El... Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Oh, hon. Ow. No, I think it will take forever for a cyst to form around it and push itself out. An electrician I know had some shards take 6 months to work out of his hands. I'd be at Urgent Care (or digging around more with the tweezers, because DH is never going to do that sort of thing). I'm sorry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 I had a shard of glass dug out of my foot 3 or 4 days after I stepped on it. I went the ER because I could not walk. They had to cut open the area and explore a bit to find it. At one point the doctor wanted to give up saying it might not actually be there. I asked him to keep looking and he found it. Despite all the digging around, it was much easier to walk around after that than with the glass in my foot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 If you are patient, cover it with a bandaid and Neosporin, it will work itself out slowly. If you are less patient, duct tape often works faster. In one desperate situation, we used the kids' Eyeclops (microscope that hooks up to television screen). We could see it on the tv, so dh circled the spot with a black Sharpie and then he was able to find it and get it out, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janie Grace Posted March 20, 2017 Author Share Posted March 20, 2017 I hadn't soaked it but I am right now. I do NOT want to go to the ER and there's no way dh will do it, so if the "working itself out" thing is a myth, I'm going to have to dig it out tonight. Wish me luck! :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janie Grace Posted March 20, 2017 Author Share Posted March 20, 2017 (edited) If you are patient, cover it with a bandaid and Neosporin, it will work itself out slowly. If you are less patient, duct tape often works faster What does Duct tape do? Grab onto it? Edited March 20, 2017 by Janie Grace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artichoke Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Try some Prid's drawing salve since it's a tiny shard. You should be able to get it at Walmart or Walgreens. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 What does Duct tape do? Grab onto it? Yes, but not necessarily immediately, so you are walking around with duct tape on your foot for a while. For some reason, covering it with duct tape or a bandaid tends to draw it out (maybe it's not being pushed back into your foot with every step?), and then part of it tends to stick to the duct tape and comes off when you pull the tape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne in CA Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Soaking is important because it loosens the skin and the glass doesn't swell up from the water. That would not work with a wooden splinter, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 I've had glass "work itself out", but yeah, it took ages. LOL, I actually forgot I'd had that minor injury when it did, freaked me out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammi K Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 My daughter( about 12 at the time) came to me saying she stepped on some glass. There was a spot that was bleeding and we prodded and dug around but could find nothing. A week or so later she told me it still hurt so I took her to a doctor. Doc numbed her heel and dug around for a good long time but said she couldn't find anything. Daughter insisted there was something in there but nothing could be found. It was almost two months later before it worked it way out and punctured the skin so that she could feel it catching on her sock. She took it upon her 12 year old self to go after it with a needle to tear open the skin and finally grab it with a tweezers. Sp, yeah, it can take ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 (edited) Soak it or use hot compresses regularly. Years ago DH had a piece of pampas grass get stuck in the meaty part of his hand under the thumb. I tried and tried to get him to soak it or do hot compresses to draw it out. He wouldn't listen and kept poking around with a needle and tweezers. The area swelled up and started getting infected looking. He went to his doctor who then sent him to a orthopedic doc. The orthopedic doc told him (are you ready for it?) to try hot compresses for a few days and see what happened. Otherwise he'd need surgery. The doc was worried about nerve involvement. The hot compresses drew it out after just a couple of days of doing them every 30 to 60 minutes (as often as possible). DH thought the doctor was a genius. I guess he conveniently forgot that I told him the same thing (for free). Edited March 20, 2017 by Pawz4me 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 This happened to my youngest dd a couple months ago. It took about 5 days to work itself out. She didn't even realize it was a piece of glass. She just thought it hurt to walk because of the cut. One day she took off the bandaid and saw a piece of glass had worked itself out. It was simple to remove then. She was sore for another day or two, probably from the original irritation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Drawing salve is the ticket, but if you don't have it on hand, it won't help you. DS had a piece of glass in his foot a couple weeks ago and I dug it out with a sterilized sail makers (so, big) needle. He never even felt anything because of the natural roughness of his heel. But I guess he'd had his piece of glass in his foot for quite some time without saying anything. He kept thinking that pain in his foot would go away :/ ...my kids keep doing this and it's driving me nuts, but I digress. After I pulled it out (it was not small) I popped some iodine in there and covered it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 And watch closely for signs of infection. At that point you *need* to get medical attention. I once waited too late to take my daughter in and it was much, much worse. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.